YULETIDE REFLECTIONS.

Hutt News, Volume 3, Issue 29, 11 December 1930, Page 10

YULETIDE REFLECTIONS.

Humanity approaches Christmas Day with' diverse sensations, for naturally age largely determines the point of view; thus -the individual finds his out-, iook altering with the years, but to whatever age he ( has attained, he" never entirely forgets the exuberant and credulous Christmas of his childhood, the breathless anticipation which—as 'one of nmtnrer years was recently heard to remark* * makes sleep almost an impossibility." Then/ after what ■seems no longer than an hour, the making of the realisation of what the day portends followed by that thrilling grop ing in the semi-dark, to see what Father Xmas has put in his stocking. The nest instinct is generally to visit other 'members of the family, display his own treasure and admire theirs, till pTobably, in an incredibly short space of time, an agonised squeel announces the fact that "one of the most precious of those treasures has met an untimeb end!, But as the yea,rs go by, the Christmas season suggests cessation from work, change of sGene, the reunion of families and friends, and more serious reflections at this time, of relaxation. Out thoughts travel back ttrough the centuries to the birth of the Christian era, and to Him whose mission it was to proclaim "Peace on Earth j Goodwill toward men." The effulgence of this message so frequently finds only a brief lodgment in our : minds, but if the spirit, of altruism could glorify our daily pursuits, and grow with the years, then ideed should' '■ we be what we all nominally are— ■ (followers of Him who perfectly lived j the message he came to deliver. '