Rethinking Christmas

Christmas season is with us again. A walk through the town, at least here in Italy, which I guess is what happens world over, preparations are in top gear and the decorations can tell it all. It is interesting that even television news give considerable coverage of Christmas so are the newspapers. The only undoing is the bad weather clobbering most of Europe bringing many cities to a tilt and spoiling many plans. Back at home, in Kenya, this is significantly the biggest feast in the year.
Christmas occurs in the last month of the year characterized by many events: It is time to relax for class 8 pupils and form 4 students who sat for their exam and wait for the results and all schools are closed; it is time for initiation for boys in most part of the country; it is time for family gatherings. It is what summer is for Europe or USA. The month-long- holiday-proper begins with the Independence Day on Dec 12 and lasts until first week of New Year. Goats, chicken, bulls will have nowhere to hide. Everyone will be clad in the best cloth and shoes and churches will be overflowing. As I think of what I am missing with the weathers threatening to send me to the maker, something crossed my mind. What is the meaning of all this festivities and are they worth it?
Christmas is a feast when we celebrate God who chose to be one of us. We were taught since we young that ‘For God so loved the world that he sent his only Son that those who believe in him will have life eternal’. Therefore, we celebrate God’s love to a fallen people in need of his redemption. But God wants to reach man through man; he chose Mary to give birth to Jesus and Joseph to take care of him. Later this child will save mankind from eternal condemnation by his death and resurrection. Christmas is thus intimately connected to Easter. But I ask does man really understand all this?
Looking at the preparations we make for Christmas on would right to say that it is more of an external than it is internal. We are so elaborate with the town, house, street and church decorations than we are in preparing our hearts to contemplate the whole event. We are so dogged down by the daily traffic that we hardly find time to think about what it really means. For many though it is the one other time, apart from Easter, that we set foot in church. Even then we still do not reach the essence of the feast often forgotten as these two articles suggest, http://godwardthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/11/in-preparation-for-christmas.html http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0008.html
I propose a rethinking of Christmas. Suppose I celebrate Christmas to become what Jesus becomes for me to others? That is if Jesus is a sign of God’s love, if he is brings me joy, if he forgives my sins, if he becomes food for me, then why should I be the sign of love, brings joy, forgiveness and become food for others especially the less fortunate. We read too that there was no room for him In Bethlehem, shall he find one today in my heart. It is him who says he who welcomes one of the little brothers welcomes me. How many people have no place to lay their head tonight? Or have no food? Or clothing? Or status? Or family? And what am I doing? God has reached to us through his son. It is our time to reach unto others? I just wish we could spend a quarter of the time we spend on the externals to prepare Christmas and dedicate it to serving those in need! It all depends on you. Here you go