The Daily News THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24. CHRISTMAS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 308, 24 December 1908, Page 2

The Daily News THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24. CHRISTMAS.

Christmas is good diseipliue for everyone wiio has me power of thougiit, not so much for what it means as lor what it has been made. It is the great festival of tie Christian year, the little peaceiul halting place where o-.ic may .snitt the years burden lu the oliler shoulder ami. gather fresh strength tor 'uie new; journey. The season is redolent of all J>lie social joys. It is a time when, fallowing the -inlinity of past T,'hristmases most of us do in very truth feel the beatific iutiueucc of a seasoi? potent for good. We may assume that all who read our remarks have wrked hard during I'JltS and iiave said, as has been said at ev«ry other Christmas tim-i since olie reiuefrfbei*, " Jt*«mly.,is<renis yesterday Unit it was last Christmas.'' And that's where one begins*.to think. As stepping -stones between the years Christmas days are days of d?ar delight, because the maguet of the" season so often drawjfthose to us who never come at any otlfc'r time. The sentiment of the time has appealed to numberless writers; it has healed millions of wounds, and it has re-united myriads of people, it is the time of the buried hatchet; it is the time of the idle implements of toil, the period of forgetfulness of evil. It is the time when one sees with'the eye of a clearer mind a whole procession of past Christmases and the people who made those Christmases so glad. lu .New Zealand we see nature in her gayest garb, our friends prosperous, well-clad, optimistic and healthy. There is the Christinas of the pitst when the dying year was already wrapped in its winning sheet of snow, romantic and " jolly' enough to those with leasts and lires and friends, but awful to those who starved and died because tne world has not wakened to the fact that it is everybody's right to live and to be

warm and lo bo foil and to bo happy. Wo know, you anil us, that wo shall Go happy this Christmas tinio because lliei"! is nothing to prevent it. Wc tan perhaps examine tli« leal of life that W-' are slowly turning this week and finil it fair anil clean. That should set us thinking. And if it isn't quite dean, there, is another leaf and that's white enough. Let the dead past bury its dead. There is to-morrow. And isn't Christmas in New Zealand worth while'; Isn't it just the time when one can toss the inside " job" through the window so to speak, and snuggle close to nature '! That's your sun outside and the air belongs to no syndicate. Somebody may own the trees and the laud but no one but yourself owns your eyes and the circulation of your blood and your power of enjoyment. Then Christmas irresistibly forces you to try and make other people joyful. If you were feted and petted and " Christmassed" all the year round it wouldn't interest you. One continual holiday would be a bore. If all your loved ones rushed home every day, shook you heartily by the hand and exclaimed " 1 am so glad lo see you again " you'd cease to jubilate. Therefore because Christmas is only yearly it is always new. If the time has seemed short between last Christmas and this one you haven't wasted time, if it has seemed too long, you are probably too rich and too lazy. Get rid of some of your wealth and also get work. There has never been a lazy person who enjoyed Christmas since the first Yuletide. If you have been busy in the interval, you haven't had much time to do anybody any harm. If you haven't been busy you missed most of the joy of the year and Christmas won't do you any good. When you're driviug the old chariot along it's good to unhitch the horses when you get to the Christmas oasis. Both the horses and you will plod along a deal better for the halt.

Christmas is Christmas because ;i baby was born on that day quite time ago, and after all' the centuries 1 Christmas is the thji'ji'eh's' very specii(f Vcstival. People ( inay Overfeed"'at Christmas tuue aifd liiay be very' Wood custoii ei;i or Hie. chemist and may; wake fact tlijiit p thijoifchjOU.t H 'Christ mis J3,,tfm 'jlsw'.'.op' ity rubs souls, a'ljusts dill'e'rences. fra-'.' ternises, eats, drinks, and is meriy is a reason why Christinas is of all our institutions Die most valuable. If you love Christmas for the sentimental interest attaching to it, if you love Christmas because it is a birthday, if you love Christinas because it markrs another mile-stone safely passed, Christmas is good for you. J'eeling the sweet influence of the happy time, knowing its value, appraising it highly for it« uplifting qualities, it has remained the fashion through the ages since the first Christinas to seasonably greet one's friends. This we do i.i the obi way and with the old words. None others lit, the situation. To our readers who have helped us through the year and whom we hoped we have helped we wish with all sincerity. A IIAPPY CHUISTiIAS.