Christmas: A Day of Gratitude

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love. For business persons, it is a great concept and a money-making source. For children, it is a season for recreation and play. For people without God, it is a holiday season with Santa Claus and Christmas trees. For people of other faiths, it is a great time to revive relationships. For some, it is the only time to think of people who are important to them: their father, their mother, their close friends etc. and send them expensive cards with readymade words. For some Christians, it is the only day of obligation in a calendar year: not that they are angry with God or the priest and the Church, but it is often old fashion versus new fashion. Taking part in Mass is old, standing out is new. Responding is old keeping silence is new. Singing is old, sealed lips are new.

Christmas for Christians is a day of gratitude. Gratitude leads us to prayer, where our hearts are filled with wonder and praise. Christmas leads us to the sense of wonder. God presents himself as tiny, fragile, vulnerable, and dependent compared to the strong, muscular, powerful, parenting and patronizing people we are in front of God. We often see parents and friends finding similarities between the child and parents. This child Jesus not just resembles certain features, rather is the ultimate replica of God the Father. This child is not a super child in any way: it cries, disturbs the parents middle of the night, and also smiles beautifully, holds our finger tight, kicks with both the legs to show excitement. He is confused, anxious, and fearful, always in need of the warmth of the mother. Christmas makes us wonder in a new way. God so weak and vulnerable is asleep with his creation which is strong and powerful.

If there is no Christmas, we would not have experienced this sense of wonder at all: we would have missed touching his soft little cheeks, fingers and toes; missed to see him sleep peacefully, see him cry, see him reach out to him mom, his confused looks and his innocence. This brings in a great lesson of all time: to reach at the cave of one’s heart, one must become childlike. A child has a great power to make us focus our attention completely whoever we are, whatever degrees we hold. God not only became childlike, God became a child. This proves that God will go all the way, take any risk, sacrifice any level, and give up anything to reach the cave of our hearts.

How do we stand near the crib? What goes on in our minds and hearts as we see this child in the manger? I too want others to know that I can be liked, loved and I want others to know that I can love affectionately too. Do I see others as loveable and wanting to be loved? Am I ready to present myself loveable; childlike? Christmas is indeed tenderness for the past, courage for the present and hope for the future. I wish you all Merry Christmas!