Zurich Citizens News, 1971-12-23, Page 4PAGE 4
ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1971
A time for symbols!
Christmas ---that sparklingjewel in
the long winter's cold --is a day when
words are not enough. To capture its
glow and its potential we have to resort
to songs and symbols,, for this is the day
of the heart.
Wht does it mean? Watch the face of a
small child as a little voice pipes,
"Away in a Manger, no crib for a bed,"
smell the tangy fragrance of mince pies
and cookies as preparations are made for
a gram family reunion. These delightful
sights and sounds and odors provide a
partial clue.
But Christmas is much, much more. It
is a rapping at the door of our spitits,
a call (unless we deaden it with a sur-
feit of things), to our warmest and best
actions. It is a time to remember that
*life, with all its shadows and frustrat-
ions, is wonderfully good, a gift to be
savoured and appropriated no matter
what our circumstances.
It is a time to marvel at the mystery
of a snowflake --"What heart could have
wrought you, 0 filigree petal" --to enjoy
the blue shadows that lie across the
drifts, to appreciate the sturdy ever-
green standing straight against the wind.
It is a time to worship and to revel in
the joyful carols the cradled Babe has
inspired over the centuries.
At Christmas let us be grateful for
the past and let us give ourselves to
the future. Technological accomplish-
ments are useful and impressive, but it
is the human values that give life qual-
ity and depth. This well -loved interlude
calls us to a new respect for ouurselves
and for those other selves, who, with us,
shape or shape this chapter of the human
story.
Christmas is L -O- -E!
Into this world, long ago, came a
Man of humble birth. Born in a stable
when his land seemed without hope,when
terror walked in some quarters, and there
were't enough jobs to go around. The
people were downhearted.
His time was much like ours. His
time was like all ages before and since.
The joys of His people were His. So
were their fears and sorrows.
He was not a wealthy man. He was not
a profiteer. He did some carpentry.
Some have since claimed He was a. failure
at the age of 33.
He went around talking of Zove, comp-
assion, urging action against social in-
justice, helping the sick and needy. He
was a man of action.
He• taught that we are all children of
God. He was a simple man. Yet He changed
the world.
Christmas. Its true meaning lies in
Him.He brought hope, a hope based on
simplicity, on the things around Him and
in his experiences; a hope that Zed to
belief, that Zed to conviction.
Conviction? Yes, conviction that God,
the Giver of life, the Originator of the
universe, is alive and well... that only
through people with His convictions
could Chaos be ended and Orderliness
brought about. He was committed to the
belief that only through active L -0 -V -E
could this come about.
ZURICH Citizens NEWS
PRINTED BY SOUTH HURON PUBLISHERS LIMITED, ZURICH
HERB TURKHEIM, Publisher
Second Class Mail Registration Number 1385 01111):1
+���j, .
0441111111114'. -
fro Aso
Member:
Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association
Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association
Subscription Rates: $.4.00 per year in advance in Canada;
$5;00 in United States and Foreign; single copies 10 cents
THE GHOSTS OF
CHRISTMAS PAST
By Bill Smiley
Looking forward to Christ-
mas has become something less
than unadulterated joy. The
thrice -blasted cards, the
seven -times -blasted tree with
its inevitable crooked stump,
the ever-increasing cost of
gifts: these and other aspects
of the festive season have turn-
ed the festive part of it, at
least, into an exercise of
hectic futility.
I think many will agree when
I say that there's a hugh sigh
of relief on Christmas night
when the last of the wrappings
have been put away, the last
of the dishes washed, and we
can sit back, lbok at the lights,
and listen to music. It's a lot
easier on the nerves to look
back on Christmases of the past.
They were probably just as
frantic, but in retrospect they
have a sort of rosy glow about
them.
There's one that still causes
me a pang of remorse and
shame. My mother was making
the usual huge turkey dinner,
with all it entails. We were to
eat about four. Around two p, m.
my kid brother and I sneaked,
yes, sneaked off to the matin-
ee. About the same time, my
older brother and sister went for
a long walk with a friend. None
of us got home until about 5.30
and there was Mom stuck with
the ruins of a magnificent din-
ner, on which she had toiled
for hours, She didn't say any-
thing, but I, for one, felt like
a rat.
I was about ten, and it was
the first time I ever realized
how thoughtless and selfish kids
can be. Which reminds me
that my own two thoughtless,
selfish brats will be home this
Christmas. Hugh's a vegetarian
and will have his little beg of
whole brown rice. Kim's on
some kind of a crazy diet. By
some strange coincidence, the
vegetarian becomes a carni-
vore and the diet goes out the
window, when they're home.
It's tempting to think of mak-
ing them a nice nut salad,
and cooking a small duck for
their parents only.
Another Christmas I'll
Photography
Children • Portraits
• Weddings •
COLOR or BLACK & WHITE
HADDEN'S
STUDIO
GODERICH
111 St. David St. 5244717
iftemnamemos
never forget was that of 1944
deep in the heart of Pomerania,
behind barbed wire. We didn't
have to worry about buying
gifts, sending cards or making
long-distance calls to relatives.
Maybe that's why it was so
much fun. Not even a tree to
wrestle with.
We exchanged gifts. I gave
a pair of gloves to one of the
artists, and he gave me a car-
icature of myself. Someone else
gave a pack of smokes and re-
ceived a razor blade that had
been used only one week.
And there was the Christmas
dinner. We had saved every
scrap we could from the last
of the Red Cross parcels. We
had two tins of salmon and
delicious creamed sauce made
from powdered milk. There
were potatoes au gratin (We'd
hung onto a hunk of cheese).
And there was that fantastic
cake... crumbled Graham
crackers and mashed turnips
held together by a bit of marg,
with two melted chocolate
bars stirred in. It was cooked
on top of the stove, and weigh-
ed about 18 pounds, one pound
per man.
With dinner went kriegie
brew. •We'd saved enough
prunes and sugar to make a
potent potion (just add water
and let it ferment for a couple
of weeks).
After scoffing the lot, we
lay around on our bunks, with
the firelight flickering from
the battered stove. Did we tall<
about home and loved ones?
We did not, We just lay there
and groaned, like 18 pythons
who had simultaneously swal-
lowed 18 goats.
Most of us were sick half the
night, but it was worth it. It
was the only time for months
that we hadn't been hungry,
and the only time for months
that we would'nt be.
Other Christmases swarm into
memory. I'll not forget the
one when my wife was having
the family, for the first time.
She fussed all day and had
everything just so. She was
going to show her mother and
aunts that she was no slouch of
a housewife. Her eyes were
darting everywhere, making
sure that everything was in
order. The atmosphere was
about the same as that at Cape
Kennedy when they're going to
fire at the moon.
Finally, the supreme mom-
ent. She ushered everyone to
the table and rather grandly
ordered me to take the turkey
out of the oven. I did, but the
dam' pan was red hot and I
dropped the whole works, gravy,
grease, dressing and turkey,
on the shining kitchen floor.
I'll spare you the details, but
I've never come closer to
sudden death, even during the
war.
In parting, I have three
wishes for my loyal readers:
that your Christmas tree doesn't
fall over just after you've fin-
ished decorating; that you don't
drop the turkey; and that you
have the best and happiest
Christmas you've ever had,
with people you love:
Business and Professional Directory
OPTOMETRISTS
J. E. longstaff
OPTOMETRIST
SEAFORTH MEDICAL CENTRE
527.1240
Tqesday, Thursday, Friday, Sat-
urday a.m., Thursday evening
CLINTON OFFICE
10 Issac Street 492-7010
Monday and Wednesday
Call either office for
appointment.
Norman Martin
OPTOMETRIST
Office Hours:
9.12 A,M, — 1:30-6 P.M.
CLOSED ALL DAY SATURDAY
Phone 235.2433 Exeter
Robert F. Westlake
Insurance
"Specialising in
General Insurance"
Phone 236-4391 — Zurich
Guaranteed Trust
Certificates
1 year 5%
2 year 62%
3 year 7i%
4 year 72%
5 year 71%
J. W. HABERER
ZURICH PHONE 236-4346
AUCTIONEERS
PERCY WRIGHT
LICENSED AUCTIONEER
Kippen, Ont.
Auction Sale Service that is
most efficient and courteous.
CALL
THE WRIGHT AUCTIONEER
Telephone Hensall (519)262-5515
FUNERAL DIRECTORS
WESTLAKE
Funeral Home
AMBULANCE and PORTABLE
OXYGEN SERVICE
DIAL 236.4364 — ZURICH
ACCOUNTANTS
Roy N. Bentley
PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT
GODERICH
P.O. Box 478 Dial 524-9521
INSURANC E
For .Safety ..
EVERY FARMER NEEDS
Liability Insurance
For Information About All
Insurance — Call
BERT KLOPP
DIAL 236-4988 -- ZURICH
Representing
COOPERATORS INSURANCE
ASSOCIATION