"BUT ONCE A YEAR"...

Taupo Times, Volume I, Issue 50, 24 December 1952, Page 4

"BUT ONCE A YEAR"...

1 Most of us are famiiiar with ihe saying: • ' ■ . r! * "Christmas • eoirfes but once a - yeart ; \ : And when it comes it brings good cheer." Not so many of us possibly take time to reflect upon the curious circumstances that so much heartiness, good feilowship, goodwiil and feasting should be crammed into such a small fraction of the year, and so little left of the good feilowship and goodwiil to mellow human relationships in business and soeial intercourse throughout the remainmg months. After all, the festival of Christmastide is something more than a simple season of merry-mak-ing. There is a deeper, more serious meaning to it which many in this casual age are apt to niiss altogether. It is a religious observance, an annual tribute to the Founder and Exponent of a Way of Life the Gospel of which for nearly 2000 years has exerted a remarkable influence upon millions of people. It set a standard in personal coiiduct and relationships which feW have been able to reach, but which, rievertheless, has given to mariy, in looking upward to higher levels of thought and activity, the vision of a better, more humane world. Two thousand years is a long time. For the Christian Gospel to fiave survived through successive periods of stress that threatened to destroy its foundations is impressive witness to the inherent strength and tenacity of the Spirit with which its teachings are impregnated. The world today is undergoing one of those tremendous political convulsions that throughout recorded history have shaken the ancient civilsations of their time to the very foundations and destroyed them. Involved in the current conflict of rival ideologies is the freedom of the individual from the enslaVemOnt of his thoughts and rightful activities as a human being. It, is the greatest menace Christendom has yet had to face since the Dark Ages and it is fitting at this seaspn that wTe should give some thought to the many blessings. that the Ghi'istian way of life has given mankindi and to the sinister danger that threatens us with their depravation, The Christmas Anniversary comes as a reminder of these blessings, and as a reemphasis of oiir responsibility to so shape our lives . that we and the geneiations to copie may continue to enjoy them. . , V v In Conclusion the "Taupo Times,, tenders to its readers the best wishes for; • :. . \ T">v; A MERRY CHEISTHAS ANI> A HAPPY NEW YEAR.