Editorial: Generosity and joy in abundance

Fifty years ago tonight a place-name became deep-etched in the collective New Zealand memory. That location was Tangiwai - the place of crying waters. Later it would be joined by an exotic Javanese word that had not long found its way into the English language. That word was lahar.

It was a fateful combination, one that on Christmas Eve 1953 saw engine No 626 and five of the carriages it had hauled from Wellington plunge into the Whangaehu River from the rail bridge destroyed by a wall of mud and water from Mt Ruapehu's crater lake. As rescuers tried to extricate passengers from the sixth carriage, teetering on the edge, it rolled into the riverbed.

It was New Zealand's worst rail disaster. One hundred and fifty-one people, many of them holidaymakers bound for Auckland, died that night. The death toll would have been higher had it not been for the heroic efforts of men and women who toiled through filth and darkness to rescue injured and confused passengers.

The pall cast over the country by the disaster was manifest. It was the largest civilian loss of life since the Napier earthquake, one that would not be exceeded until the Erebus crash claimed 257 lives in 1979. However, what made the Tangiwai disaster all the more appalling was that it robbed New Zealand of its Christmas. There was hardly an adult in the country who could put the tragedy from his or her mind. Only young children, uncomprehending and enjoying the results of Santa's nocturnal visit, were spared the sadness.

For the relatives and friends of the dead many of the Christmases that followed were a painful reminder. Only the passage of time and a determination to celebrate Christmas in the right spirit served to lift their burden. Last Sunday's commemoration, however, brought the memories flooding back.

Half a century is a milestone and it is appropriate that we take a moment to remember that awful night; time to remember not only those who lost their lives but those who risked their own lives to save others. We must not, however, let it steal another Christmas.

There are few other times in the year when feeling good is almost mandatory. In an increasingly complex and frenetic world we are beset by many demands but few that demand we be happy. So the desire to be filled with goodwill and good purpose is too precious to allow history - save an event more than two millenniums ago - to intrude.

That 2000-year-old event seems each year to have less effect on the multicultural and all-too-secular society we have become. The significance of Christ's birth may not loom large in an overwhelming majority of households tomorrow morning but he might take some satisfaction that two virtues - joyfulness and generosity - will be there in abundance. And they are essential ingredients of the human spirit.

It is said that the human spirit shines brightest in adversity and it shone brightly on December 24, 1953, when men like Cyril Ellis, John Holman, Arthur Bell and William Inglis were saving lives at a blighted spot south of Ohakune. Doubtless tomorrow will also require its lifesavers - doctors, nurses and other emergency workers and volunteers who forgo Christmas Day with their families to ensure that some continue to enjoy the gift of life. And doubtless they will be unsung heroes and be satisfied to remain so.

For most, satisfaction will come from witnessing the expression on young faces as they open gifts, from the companionship of family and friends or from a sense of well-fed contentment. In their own way such moments are as precious as great deeds. They represent something denied to the passengers on the 3pm Christmas Eve Express - happy memories.