The season to celebrate and be merry is once again upon us and more so for the Christian majority Naga state and its people. And keeping with our reputation as proud Christians and at the same time the heavy dose of symbolism that goes to represent our approach to worship, our homes and towns are buzzing with the anticipated birth of Christ. And to show for this we have all this pre-Christmas events and worship taking place. Our politicians and some of the government departments seem to be even more enthused about this whole thing. It will be interesting to find out how some of these events are being funded—whether out of the public exchequer. Whether such programmes are at all necessary or does it serves any public interest needs to be pondered upon. By avoiding such functions, the government can in fact save several lakhs of rupees, which can be then used for public welfare. And then some of these pre-Christmas programmes are increasingly being witnessed with heavy doses of popular culture and pomp so much so that several paradoxes can be observed, such as the spiritual facet of the season with a torrent of consumption; a period of tranquility and self-reflection with hurry and alacrity; joyful expectation and hope with stress and depression. Is this the right way to prepare for the birthday of the Lord and savior Jesus Christ? Over the years, the level of such celebration has been scaled to epic proportions. What is of concern is that even our local churches seem to be competing with one another to make Christmas celebration a commercial success. This is hardly the stuff of Christmas season i.e. to prayerfully await the arrival of the messiah Jesus Christ.
And so as we approach Christmas, the birth of the Prince of Peace, there is an underlying concern about how we as Christians are losing our focus and attention on the real meaning of Christmas. This concern has been felt even more in the last few years. The suprising thing is that everyone speaks about this concern through various public platform including the Sunday pulpit and even our politicians make a lot of good sense when they chant the name of God and preach about the real meaning of Chritsmas. But the question is are we just happy to speak and preach about this shared concern or are we also prepared to transform our way of living and celebration so that our heart is in the right place. As a Christian state we the Naga people will have to show the way by our testimony if at all our belief in Jesus Christ is to remain credible. As already mentioned the worrying aspect of the Pre-Christmas or X-Mas culture is the huge amount of wastage incurred in terms of money, time and other resources during such celebrations. In relation to this, it will be worthwhile to mention here about a posting made in Facebook wherein it calls for spending less and giving more. And so not withstanding the glitz and commotion increasingly associated with such a thing as Pre-Christmas celebrations, it is an opportunity for us to actually prepare ourselves spiritually for the birth of Jesus Christ. More than public clamoring, Christmas should be a time of tranquility, in which God’s message can be better heard. If we’re going to be the people of the Prince of Peace, we have to stop glorifying wealth and status or the power struggle. And more importantly for a society divided, if we want to speak of Jesus coming to forgive us our sins, we have to learn to forgive others. Let us therefore understand the real meaning of Christmas and act accordingly.
And so as we approach Christmas, the birth of the Prince of Peace, there is an underlying concern about how we as Christians are losing our focus and attention on the real meaning of Christmas. This concern has been felt even more in the last few years. The suprising thing is that everyone speaks about this concern through various public platform including the Sunday pulpit and even our politicians make a lot of good sense when they chant the name of God and preach about the real meaning of Chritsmas. But the question is are we just happy to speak and preach about this shared concern or are we also prepared to transform our way of living and celebration so that our heart is in the right place. As a Christian state we the Naga people will have to show the way by our testimony if at all our belief in Jesus Christ is to remain credible. As already mentioned the worrying aspect of the Pre-Christmas or X-Mas culture is the huge amount of wastage incurred in terms of money, time and other resources during such celebrations. In relation to this, it will be worthwhile to mention here about a posting made in Facebook wherein it calls for spending less and giving more. And so not withstanding the glitz and commotion increasingly associated with such a thing as Pre-Christmas celebrations, it is an opportunity for us to actually prepare ourselves spiritually for the birth of Jesus Christ. More than public clamoring, Christmas should be a time of tranquility, in which God’s message can be better heard. If we’re going to be the people of the Prince of Peace, we have to stop glorifying wealth and status or the power struggle. And more importantly for a society divided, if we want to speak of Jesus coming to forgive us our sins, we have to learn to forgive others. Let us therefore understand the real meaning of Christmas and act accordingly.
