CHRISTMAS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1629, 21 December 1912, Page 15

CHRISTMAS.

I (By the Late William T. Stead.) j © ®

If Christmas did not exist, if thero never had been a Christmas, and the human raco at this moment found itself with a memory from which all idea of Christmas has been expunged by a'spongo of oblivion,' what a ■different world it would be! If Christmas did not exist the deep instructive, longing of the human heart would surely lead to tlio invention of some substitute to fill tho void. If we had to invent such a substitute what aro tile essential features of Christmas which would have to be reproduced in tho new festivali'

The inquiry sets us thinking. What is Christmas to mankind? What is Christus? Probably no two myi or women would answer these questions exactly in tho same way. There is tho Christinas of the churches and thero is tho Christmas of Dickens; tho Christmas that is a pause point in tho evolution of human history, and the Christmas that is a family festival. There is one thing) however, , that is characteristic oi all the Christmases, Christmas is not as other days. There aro 065 days in the year, 3GJ of which aro more or less like each other, but Christmas stands apart, unique with a glory all its own. And in that quality of unlikeness to all other days it becomes to all of us, whether believers or unbelievers, a kind of natural and universal measuring point of our life. Each of us measures our own ago from our own birthday. Tho only general metewand of timo is the interval between, Christmas and Christmas.' We constantly find ourselves estimating tho date of some occurrence by the "number" of 'Christuiases that have <»me and gone sinco it happened. Christmas has become a. kind of universal birthday of the human race, Which indeed is what might, naturally have been anticipated from its origin- and association. But what is most interesting to note is that this holds good among all of us whether or not .wo belong to the family of the faith. ■

Aii'institution which sets us all thinking of the flight of time serves the purpose of a universally rccognised land-mark in the piifrim path which wo are ceaselessly treading from the cradle to tho grave. It is-'a good tiling to have reminiscence rendered automatic by the creation of such an Anniversary. For in .the limry and bustle of • niodern life such meditative moments.are few and far between. We havo lost the habit of looking behind and before. ■. Living only in the passing moment we, bccoino more and moro ephemerides, oblivious that that moment is but the meeting point of two eternities, the eternity of the Infinito Past and the eternity of tho not less I.ufinite Future. Anything that links us in an unbroken, chain with -1960 years of human history is good. Each Christmas is a link, and tho first link'hitches on to tho manger in Bethlehem.

: Christmas not merely compels retrod spect; it suggests, tho line along which tJiat retrospect shall proceed.. Each recurring Christmas revives the memory of the angels' song, almost the only verse in tho ,Bible upon which .secular journalists feel themselves free to preach lay sermons.' It reminds us that the aim and objective of Christianity, were summed up in the Wo brief strop.ncs of the angelic anthem, "Peace on earth, good will to men," seven little words, but what a world of meaning in each. Christmas reminds us "this then is . what Christianity .means." It brings us down to the essence,' and reminds-us of tho original touchstone by which wo may test the valuo o'f all Christian and pseudo-Christian developments. It is.also a vigorous incentive to renewed exertion. For the more wo reflect upon this seven-worded formula the more we are compelled to realise how very,' very far short we have fallen of realising this primitive ideal.. .The world 'still shakes" beneath the iron-sandaled feet of war. The resources needed for the . regenerating of tho peoples are squandered in ever-increasing millions on' the apparatus of slaughter. Yet.it is true that tho very magnitude of our armaments, tho very deauliness of our arms of precision, aro working out in a curious inverted roundabout way the reign of peace. Nothing is more certain than that the average percentage of tho days in the lifetime of an ordinary man, taken all the world over, during which lie is officially declared to be in a state of war with his neighbours, is lower to-day than it has been since history began. War, once tho. normal condition of nations, is now an exception. Preparation for war is constant; actual warfare is rare. Onco • the time when kings went forth to battle came round as as spring. It is not two centuries since every "heart of oak" that was launched from an English dockyard was certain to 1m called upon to face the broadsides of the enemy. In our time England has been building ironclads for seventy years, and not one of them has ever fired a shot at a hostile ship. The German army is the most powerful fighting machine the world has ever seen, and for thirty-five years it has never fought a battlo. Our modern system of armed peace is ruinously extravagant, but it is wasteful of gold, not of blood. Its chief offence against the Christian ideal lies ih perpetually preoccupying the brain of mankind' with preparation for slaughter which seldom takes place. Christmas reminds us all that the first object of our foreign policy should be .the conversion of foes into friends. It brands as 'anti-Christian all the current 'lies about this, that, or the other nation being our "natural enemies." The moro we dislike a neighbouring nation the more we should try to make friends with it. Th? peace budget, by which for every 1000 dollars devoted to armaments one should be devoted to propaganda of peace and th* exercise of international hospitality, still awaits realisation. But it will come, and every Christmas brings it nearer. These matters are, however, of wide and general national and international interest. That is to say, in other words, that they must of necessity appeal to the few. The mass of men do not generalise. T.hey live iii smaller areas than that bounded by national frontiers.- Then fatherland is their home. And it is as a festival of the home and of the family that Christmas i« the most living force. It is tho season of family reunions. The Christmas dinner is the Sacrament of the family. It is a blessed means of grace to millions. But it might be made thrice blessed if its sacred mission was taken more seriously to heart. There are few families iH which peace reigns and good will prevails. When the children grow up and marry, divergent tendencies manifest themselves and the onco united circle shows ominous gaps. Wo .can live-at peace with our own children—sometimes, but it is not so easy when our sons have brought us daughters-in-law, and ' our daughters sons-in-law. Those who are only children-in-law are often dangerous obstacles to tho harmony of the home. It is but seldom that there are grandsires who oan gather round their Christmas dinner table all their children and all their grandchildren. Christmas oomes but once a year, but when it comes it ought to give the signal for an honest, serious, earnest attempt to wipe out these barriers which spring up so easily and to restore that unity of spirit which is so often lacking. Therein at least the Christian gospel has a distinct advantage over the non-faiths into which many havo fallen. To the unbeliever thero is no appointed day in which an authoritative voice rings through the chambers of the memory, like tho voice of a muezzin from a Moslem minaret summoning him to do his utmost to heal breaches, to composo feuds and restore peace and good will in tho family circle. If in every house at Christmas time a chair was left vacant for every member of the family who is absant bccauso he is out of charity with tho old folks at home, tho eloquence of that reminder.would lead to many senrch-iug-s of heart and'in many cases to many much to be desired reconciliations.

There ie another use of Christmas which unfortunately is much neglected. The Protestant Church has no festival for tho dead. The Positivists and tho Catholics do at least remember on a day definitely fixed in their calendars those who wcro with us but who are not, because they have passed hence. Christmas ought to one day of the dead. A great change is coming over tho world before long on this matter. Tho consciousness of the continued existence, and unbroken intercourse of the so-called dead with those who linger behind yet a little while is deepening. It will ere long demand clearer and mo'ro definite expression. Tho Protestant Church sings of the army of the living God, of which the vanguard has passed tho river of death, jvhilo tho rest

are passing on. It asserts its belief m the communion, of sninis. But tho memory ot tho dead is regarded as • something too sacred to "bo spoken about, and as a result the dead soon ceaso even to ho a memory. This ought not to be. Our dead are no moro dead than our hoys arc dead, when thoy leave home to attend college or university. At such a season as Christmas wo should feel it an exorcise of solemn joy to rccall their memory and to renew our fellowship with them, lo of us tho consciousness of reunion will be mutual.; Cut to all who have passed beyond it will bo very real and satisfying. It may he said that we should remember our dead at all times. But as wliat iis everybody's business is nobody s business, eo what is the duty of even* day is apt to slip out of every day unless one day is specially set apaTt for its P o^o1 ™" ance. That is tho raison d'etre of Christmas.