Skies Change but Christmas Remains
CHRISTMAS is indestructible. Wherever Christian men and women find themselves-whether they are what are called practising Christians or have simply been brought up in the Christmas tradition -they will keep the day in the manner of their fathers and forefathers. If they can't get the Christmas plum-pudding, or the climate makes it too ponderous, they will make do with the next best thing. If they can’t get a sprig of holly, they will use a pohutukawa flower, or some other substitute. On land or sea, at home or abroad, in quiet English village with snow around; in the vivid warm summer of Australia and New Zealand; in the jungles or deserts of Asia or Africa; wherever they are, they will keep the feast (in their hearts, if not in church), and remember what Christmas means. They will call up Christmas Past, with all its associations of home and family and friends, and each in his fashion will realise the constancy of this one day mong the changing fortunes of men and nations, Reading the literature of Christmas, and records of Christmases men have spent in unusual situations, one is conscious of this vitality, this permanence of the festival. The amount of material in fact and fiction is immeasurably large. Conttasts crowd the pages. Here are a few moments out of the years.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19471219.2.59.1
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 443, 19 December 1947, Page 32
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227Skies Change but Christmas Remains New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 443, 19 December 1947, Page 32
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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