The Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY,DECEMBER 23,1920.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2219, 23 December 1920, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY,DECEMBER 23,1920.

; ! K; Hi. E am-i her J.-sac i-f “The Gerald" readies our readers Christina.- 1 fay will iia \ ; passed, lan i:• 1 us nope ieu (he Christmas spirit. It is a. lime for family iv-imfim- and fond remembrance-;. A time of joy, hope and charily, when we shut out all unpleasant I hough! s in celebrating the greatest of all Christian festivals. if we realise the meaning of the .!:es|l\al in all its fullness, then there is no room in our hearts for I he shadow of .-adnc.-s or mn-liarit-ableness. Lei us quote a few lines from the innnorlal Dickens appropo of lac occasion •‘lf I no more come home at Christmas-lhue, 1 Imre wilt he hoys.and girls (thank Heaven I) while (he world lasts: and they do! Yonder they dance and play upon, tiic branches of my Tree, Cod hle>s |hem, merrily, and my heart dances find plays loo! And I do come home at Christmas. Wo all do, or wo ad! should. We all come home, or ought to come home, for a short holiday-—[he longer, the better — from the great boardingschool, where wo a re for ever working a I our aril Imiolical slates, lo lake, ami give l a rest. As to going a ’•isiting, where can we not go, if we •a ill; where .have we no! been, when we would: starling our fancy from our Chris!mas Tree! .... Encircled by ihe social thoughts of Christmas-time, still lot the henign-

ant figure of my childhood >tand unchanged! In every cheerful imago

and suggestion that the season brings, may the bright star that rested above the poor roof, he the star of all the Christian world! A moment’s pause, O vanishing tree, olij which the lower houghs are dark to’me a.s yet, and 1H me look once more! I know there arc-blank spaces on thy branches, where eyes that I have loved, have shone and smiled; from which they are departed. But, far mbovo, I see the raiser of the de:ul girl, find the Widow’s Son ; and God is good! If Age he hiding for me in the' unseen portion of thy downward growth, 0 may I, with a grey head, turn a'child's heart to ilml figure yet, and. a child's trustfulness raid confidence! Now, the tree is decorated with bright merriment, and song, and -dance, and cheerfulness. And they are welcome. Innocent and welcome he they ever held, henea.il! the branches of the Christmas Tree, which cast no gloomy shadow! But, as it sinks into the ground, I hear a whisper going through the leaves, ‘This, in ,commemoration of tlie law of love and kindness, mercy and compassion. This, in rcmcmhra'nee of Ale!”

A.S an Empire we have much to he thankful for, and despite the erne! war and the harrowing aftermath, we shall yet ascend to higher heights •of peace and goodwill among the nations. The star which indicated the birth of the Babe at Bethlehem

is iii the ascendant. and we look for the .lime, not, far distant, when its full light shall illumine the whole earth with permanent peace and good will'.

WE have much to be thankful, for in our own land. Material prosperity has been, and is our portion, despite the rumbling of industrial unrest, and we know little or nothing of the distress which easts a shadow over the Old World. Peace and prosperity is our portion, Which should incline our hearts to acts of charity and good cheer to the less fortunate. “The Herald’'’ extends to-readers its best wishes for a Happy and -Joyous Christmas. “May good digestion wait on appetite, and health on both!”