IT’S Christmas time again — the season of love and goodwill, when Christians and the larger community take time off to observe and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, who was both of the Spirit and of flesh and blood.

Jesus is singular as a religious symbol whose influence both cuts across and transcends religion. In that sense, he is Christianity’s gift to humanity. It is for that reason that Christmas is both a time for Christians to celebrate and for all of humanity to reflect on the meaning of universal goodness and morality. So, at this time, we, as a nation, should reflect on the true meaning and significance of Christmas and the extent to which we have veered away from them.

Unfortunately, Christmas has come to mean different things to different people. One cannot help but notice the increasing commercialisation of the season — a time for the markets to flourish and for the well-off among us to flaunt their wealth. It has also become a season for hyper-merriment, replete with the worst symbols of depravity. This is not the Jesus tradition. His is a tradition of humility and the sharing of gifts, not as a manifestation of wealth, but as a symbol of love.

If we must return to the true roots and significance of Christmas, we must, as a society, begin to temper our attraction to the material basis upon which we think of, and celebrate, the occasion. In a larger social sense, this commercialisation of the holy season and similar occasions has come to tarnish our sense of rootedness and morality.

Christmas is also a time for us to think of redemption. Jesus came amongst us to help in redeeming a world that was sliding into moral decay. In that sense, His coming was a symbol of hope for humanity; that we could overcome our challenges. As we look around our country and the world, our moment cries out for redemption. From the commodification of every area of human activity to the rise in social ills, our collective moral compass is skewed in the opposite direction from that which Jesus’s life and sacrifices have taught. Not only must we look to leaders to lead that redemption, but all of us, as children of the universe, must pitch in our lot within our families and our communities.

National redemption without personal redemption is incomplete redemption.
Jesus’s birth in a manger to poor, humble parents is another symbol that is pregnant with meaning. It is, above all, a statement that the least among us must be lifted up. The Bible records the many instances during Jesus’s sojourn on earth when he witnessed to the poor by protecting them and centering them in his messages. It is another area of life in which we have moved away from the Jesus way. The poor in our midst are reduced to statistics, and are often treated as menaces. The massive accumulation of wealth is matched by a larger accumulation of poverty. This is something that Jesus turned His face against, and if we must properly celebrate His birth and His life, we must renew our commitment to the poor by vowing to fight against poverty in the new year.

Jesus is also a symbol of togetherness — the solidarity of human beings, despite differences. Humanity based on human segregation is pregnant with the temptation and actuality of domination and ‘otherization.’ Jesus’s very birth and life are lessons of the equality and interconnectedness of human beings. Our country has struggled to achieve that equilibrium of equality and solidarity in our diverse national self. Perhaps we could draw strength from the uplifting Christmas story in that regard.

Finally, the Christian church and other religious denominations have their work cut out in trying to return our society and the world to some degree of moral order. In some regards, the church has not itself been constant in its ambassadorship for Christ. In some instances, it has allowed money and the lure of attracting followers to taint the moral message of Jesus. There are also instances in which the church has become victim and purveyor of secular ideologies, rather than being the moral compass of our society. This is also a time of reflection for the church.

Yet, even as we reflect, we should celebrate this moment, both as memory and thanksgiving. Christmas comes at the end of the year — a time when we count our blessings and prepare for the year ahead. So, as we eat, drink and make merry, remember the true meaning of Christmas, and vow to be true to its lessons, going forward.
A Merry Christmas to all!