HER FIRST CHRISTMAS AS A CHRISTIAN

In 1985, I was writing a regular column in a city newspaper.

I called my Christmas column – ‘Cutting through the Tinsel’. It was a letter to an imaginary friend who was celebrating her first Christmas as a Christian.

After describing the Gospel accounts (Matthew and Luke) surrounding the Birth of Jesus, I attempted to answer her question, ‘What does it all mean?’.

I wrote …

An event is only an incident unless we look behind it for its meaning. On Christmas day, God entered the human sphere in a unique manner. God became human to make humanity divine. It sounds difficult and it is, and that is why some of your friends refuse to go beyond the tinsel of Christmas. They have lost the mystique, the aura which surrounds the birth of Jesus.

What it really means is that God entered human life to show us true love. For the next 30 years or so, Jesus, the name given to the Christ Child, would not only teach people about God, but would also provide a model life for people to follow. Most of His days, like ours, would be happy and carefree, but dark days would appear and He would suffer, die and return to life.

Jesus also showed us what people are. He said that they combine, in a startling manner, the human and the divine. It is almost as if in being human we are also partly godly. Frightening, is it not, especially when you think about how some of us behave towards each other? Jesus, however, demonstrated by example, how we can become full human persons made in the image of God.

In our relationships with each other, He dropped a bombshell. He said that we should treat others as we want them to treat us. A tall order! It is not easy, but Jesus never promised to make life easy. However, He did promise to be with us each day in every situation. He encouraged us to live at peace with ourselves and with others, to be kind to those who are unkind to us, and even to forgive the person who commits a wrong against us. Powerful words which become even more powerful when put into action.

As you enjoy the festivities of your first Christian Christmas, and as Christians generally we should enjoy Christmas, we need to remember the season is also a good opportunity to get right with God, as well as to establish better relations with other human beings. It is a time when hatred can be changed to love, war to peace, enemies to friends and deprivation to prosperity.

Christmas is the season of change when we can be transformed by cradling the Christ child in our hearts and lives.

My Christ present to you is the gladness of Christmas which is Hope, the Spirit of Christmas which is Peace and the Blessing of Christmas which is Love.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holy-Days.