THE SEASON OF GIFTS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 64, 18 December 1946, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE SEASON OF GIFTS

LET US FORGET WAS

“SHOP EARLY AND POST . EARLY”

. Within'a few days we may expect •to hear the voice of the squeaker announcing the advent of the joyous Christmas festival of goodwill and .giving. Whoever first thought of the .stocking as a receptacle for mysterious surprises and delights had a brain wave for which countless generations of young' folk have been, and will be eternally, thankful. A seed was planted from which has .grown a mighty force. The miracle is one of many which illustrate how .human customs spring from simple and apparently quite unrelated events. When Guy Fawkes went down into a cellar at Westminster to arrange for a display of fireworks, Ms object was to provide, not entertainment, but something grim and sinister. But instead of blowing up the House of Commons he gave to generations of boys a delightful annual festival of squibs, rockets, double bangers and bonfires. The divinity that shapes the destinies of little folk has provided for them a wealth of legend, tradition and custom with which to brighten their lives. The world to them is a place where imagination and fancy can be capitalised for the creation of happiness. Who but a sophisticated moron would seek to wreck the vision of the legendary old gentleman with the white whiskers, twinkling eyes, and bright red clothes, tearing through space, popping in and out of chimneys, and filling the stockings so trustingly suspended at the end of the beds? Upon this fine old tradition has grown a world-wide custom of pre-sent-giving that has brought both young and old within its beneficent scope. Though primarily a children’s festival, the Christmas season of gifts has come to be regarded as an occasion for mutual manifestations of goodwill between grownups as well. The impulse to give is inherent in human nature. There is a divine instinct that prompts the giver to gladden the heart of a friend, a neighbour, or a relative, with a token of goodwill, and the reciprocal acts engender a felicitous epidemic that thrills the community with a genial- glow. The gifts of the Magi have been the seeds of a great industry built upon the happines and pleasure derived from the Christmas Present. To each of us, according to his ability, is given the opportunity of exercising the spirit of remembrance, loosening the purse-strings, and making some contribution to the Christmas cheer —well-filled stockings for the young folk, mysterious packets for the grown-ups to which are subscribed personal greetings and good wishes penned in all sincerity. The peculiarity of the Christmas festival is that, though it always seems a long way off, it arrives with an appalling rush, catching people on the hop, and setting up a frantic pendemonium of shopping at the last minute. The result is that Christmas Day dawns upon a community exhausted by its carnival of spending, wrapping and despatching. It is a strain on all concerned—shoppers, shopkeepers and postal officials—that might well be eased by making an earlier beginning with this pleasure but arduous task. In buying our Christmas presents we are indulging in the exercise of a spiritual and humanitarian impulse, which is to .give a thought and so much pleasure to others. Let us enlarge the scope of these acts of consideration and think also of the labour of those whose task it is to attend to our wants. “Shop early, and post early,” should be the slogan for this joyous season, that the labour of the shop assistants who have long and tiring days ahead, and of the letter-carriers who have wearying miles to cover may be more evenly spread. To most people Christmastide is a pleasant interlude; to a few it may be a perfect nightmare. When we were very young we had an idea that the *old gentleman with the white whiskers did all the business, himself—bought the presents out of his fabulous store of wealth, and obligingly delivered them personally and furtively to the good little boys and girls who deserved them. We know now that he functions through millions of deputies in shops and post offices. A kindly thought for them is due, and should be given.