Christmas: anything more than merrymaking??

We hailed the month of December with beautiful Christmas Trees, decorations and lights. There is excitement in the air and the cold morning chills just give it that Wintery feel.

A lot of our Christmas celebrations include gift giving, lighting up the city with beautiful decor, acts of charity, sing- alongs and get-togethers, the merriment of Santa Claus, enjoyment of good food and joyous spirits. These are indeed fun and memorable, yet its reflection of the reason behind Christmas is indeed questionable.

Christmas Day acts as a day allocated for remembering Jesus’ humble birth. Jesus came for all the people. We live amidst a broken world, yet he came to give us hope, to save the broken hearted and the poor in spirit. Being too weak to earn our salvation, His death on the cross gives us forgiveness that just believing in His name frees us from our chains of sin and guilt. On the first Christmas, Jesus was born on earth, this Christmas He can be born in our hearts and soon He’ll be coming again!

Here are a few opinions on how Christmas should be celebrated.

Chirathu - I think the way Christmas is being celebrated is clearly wrong. It’s so commercialized that even Christians focus more on going shopping, decorating houses and partying. But there’s a lot more to Christmas, it’s a celebration of salvation. Not really the birth of Christ coz Jesus was actually born in April, but this is the month of giving, not only materialistic things but also the message of salvation to non believers and as Christians reminding ourselves of the gift, God gave us and that we are saved by grace.

Jeshurun - Celebrate it as the birth of Christ. Presents and the Tree are irrelevant!

Tabitha - Everyone’s celebrating it without realizing the real meaning. Christmas is just like another event to celebrate, but there’s salvation and eternal life. We can celebrate with our family, the poor, and spread the love that Jesus brought in with others, so that they’ll have a chance to experience that kind of love and be saved, coz at the end of the day it’s not the Christmas tree, or the lights or presents. They are just by products of the main thing. Celebrate in a way that can fulfill what He came to earth for and share the love that we got with the people who don’t have it.

Shanuka - Most of us would say we celebrate Christmas by browsing for gifts and attending dinner parties etc. But these don’t bring out the true spirit of Christmas , Jesus is the reason for the season. Since this season brings joy and happiness to many of us, we should do the same by looking into the welfare of under privileged people around us. Not that helping others should be restricted to Christmas, but this is a great opportunity to spread joy.

Koshala - I am glad that Christmas has become an occasion that is widely universal. Race, religion, caste and nationality don’t stand as obstacles to join in the festivities, which is absolutely amazing. But it worries me that the meaning of Christmas, being the ultimate sacrifice and epitome of love has lost value. There have been many substitutions and replacements along the way. Love has been replaced by a ‘warm fuzz’, care by business and Jesus by Santa. It would be great if we can take the season, evaluate how far we have been people who have loved unconditionally, given willingly and cared wholeheartedly, instead of looking for such opportunities only in the month of December.

Anna - Christmas should be celebrated in a manner of sacrifice. God sent Jesus as a gift and sacrifice to this world so we must also do the same. Jesus must be born in our hearts; instead of doing it outwardly we must celebrate it inwardly.

Sanjayan - I really enjoy what I call the ‘December season’ when family and friends come down from abroad. There are get-togethers, decorations are put up and Colombo transforms into a holiday atmosphere. None of these are about Christmas. Christmas isn’t about family time, or about giving or about good cheer. Of course these are good things and because December is a month when a lot of people are on holiday it seems to be a good month to celebrate it. But Christmas is about how God decided to intervene to fix this broken world, about his first step to transform the mess this world is in. He did that by coming into this world and will complete his work when Jesus comes back. As much as I enjoy the things that surround Christmas I don’t think they should be identified with Christmas. So while we enjoy everything Christmas brings, here’s to a happy December!

Poorni - Christmas should be celebrated with your loved ones, because it’s the time to tighten your bonds with family.

Shevaan - We should celebrate Christmas with family and friends, with food and drink (non alcoholic!).

Jeula - Christmas is a time to spend with family. However, we sometimes get caught up with shopping and buying gifts that we tend to forget the purpose of Christmas. It’s about Christ and we should reflect on that. It’s also a time of giving, not just gifts but doing something more than what we usually do.

By Sindhu Ratnarajan