The Gisborne Herald. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED “THE TIMES.” SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1939. CHRISTMAS!

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20128, 23 December 1939, Page 4

The Gisborne Herald. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED “THE TIMES.” SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1939. CHRISTMAS!

Christmas this year, for the first time since 1917, finds the British Empire and other great Powers at war. In such circumstances, with the whole spirit of Christmas travestied, the anniversary is inevitably robbed of much of its meaning. It will still be possible to celebrate the festival of giving and good cheer and to exchange wishes for “A Merry Christmas,” but overshadowing it all is the knowledge of a hollow mockery and a sense of 'frustration, for the real spirit of Christmas to-day has frontiers which should not exist. Christmas is essentially a time for goodwill to all men,

much of its meaning. It will still be possible to celebrate the festival of giving and good cheer and to exchange wishes for “A Merry Christmas,” but overshadowing it all is the knowledge of a hollow mockery and a sense of 'frustration, for the real spirit of Christmas to-day has frontiers which should not exist. Christmas is essentially a time for goodwill to all men, but to-day it has international boundaries beyond which St. Nicholas seems to lose his passport and his power. "Behold, I bring you good tidings .of great joy, which shall be to all people.’’ These words of the angel of the Lord, uttered nearly two thousand years ago, cannot be echoed to-day because the tidings of great joy do not exist and instead of a message of goodwill to all people there is hatred and bitterness towards some. Part of the angel’s message was "On earth peace, good will toward men.” On earth to-day there is not peace and little good will. Yet, despite these things, Christmas will be observed, under different conditions, but much as usual: and it is because this observance of Christmas continues that there is still hope for the world.

At a time like the present when thoughts naturally turn to the irony of celebrating Christmas when the world is steeped in bloodshed and war, when peace and justice have been displaced by hatred and strifb, it is fitting that the real meaning of the anniversary should be recalled, and that in recalling it there should arise a greater determination to live up to its spirit. It is well, also, to counteract cynicism or genuine despair by remembering some of the facts of history. Despite the seeming evidence to the contrary, conditions could be worse than they are to-day for, notwithstanding its many setbacks, the history of the world under Christianity has been one of progress. The real difference between the pre-

Christian world and the world as it exists to-day is that the former suffered from all the evils which now afflict us, and many more, but possessed scarcely one of our many compensating advantages. Admittedly, Christian nations for centuries have violated shockingly their professed principles and are doing so again to-day. But this is not the fault of Christianity; rather is it due to the disregard of it. And if it had not been for the Christian spirit conditions would have been infinitely worse than they are.

In our own community and in other communities throughout the world the Christmas spirit will be uppermost. It is only in the wider sphere of international relations that it is lacking and it is not too much to believe that the time will come when the same spirit will spread throughout the world, when war will be no more and there will, indeed, be peace on earth and goodwill towards men. Even in the midst of the present war there is some consolation, slight though it may be, in the fact that hostilities have been undertaken in an entirely different spirit from that which so often prevailed in the past. The Allies have entered the war, not from a spirit of conquest or gain, but from a sincere desire to establish peace on a lasting basis. The task is a difficult one for It can never really be achieved through force of arms but only when the desire for peace becomes an active impulse in human affairs. That impulse, in turn, can only arise from a fuller and deeper conception of the meaning of the Christmas spirit and from a fervent endeavour to translate a gilded prophecy into actual practice. It ,is not enough that the spirit that is Christmas should be manifested in the family or in the nation; to achieve its real ends it must break down all barriers and spread from nation to nation.

In truth, therefore, Christmas this year is not a parody but, instead, its meaning receives a greater emphasis than ever, for it is only through the manifestation of the Christmas spirit that there is hope for the world and for mankind. The people of this country can, perhaps, congratulate themselves that Christmas finds them little affected by the horrors of war, but if they are truly imbued with the spirit of Christmas their thoughts must go out to those in other parts of the world for whom the anniversary is not one of happiness and rejoicing but one of almost unalloyed misery and hardship. Real Christianity can find little comfort in the exclusive enjoyment of peace and festive celebrations but must be actuated by a desire to see similar conditions extended to others less fortunate. Christmas stands first of all for spiritual freedom of the highest order and until that freedom is extended to all men there can be no real Christmas. It is still possible and permissible to rejoice in the blessings that Christmas and Christianity have brought but unless the rejoicings are accompanied by a full realisation of what they mean, and of how much they are still lacking, they will be robbed of much of their real meaning. Christmas wishes will be extended this year as usual, but this year, more than usual, is there a need for a more enlightened understanding of what Christmas really means.