Merry Christmas my friend.....
So Christmas is around the corner again…..
It the western world, I guess Christmas is just about the biggest holiday season there is. There’s all the year end shopping and festivities are just in the air. Shopping malls are filled with people, Christmas trees, carols, candy cane, new gifts, towns painted red and white, its all part of what we all associated during Christmas; which is really strange, since that’s not what Christmas is really supposed to be about…
In Malaysia, it’s pretty much the same, except five notches down, and there’s no snow… It seems to me Christmas is being more and more commercialized, watered down, and deviating from its original purpose.
In essence, Christmas actually is a religious celebration. We are celebrating the birth of the messiah, the saviour, God’s son, the sacrificial lamb, destined to die for our sins… But look around you, and the man you’ll more likely see Santa.
Where did Santa come from? I heard that he was actually some German saint named Nicholas who gave out gifts to poor children during Christmas; Saint Nicholas in German eventually evolved into Santa Claus. Ok, so there’s where an origin. But what about him living in the north pole, with 12 reindeers, a flying sleigh and an entire workforce of elves? Where did THAT come from? Why do we have a Christmas tree? I even heard some time last year, they wanted to change the Christmas tree into a ‘Holiday tree’. Its ridiculous actually. Parents should stop telling children these stories. Disney should stop making such films such as Polar Express a few years ago…. It deviates too far from the original story of a noble man giving out gifs to children during winter. That story in itself is so much more meaningful, something worth sharing and celebrating in. Christmas is about God’s gift to us, the gift of forgiveness. Saint Nicholas too went about giving gifts…. That’s why we say Christmas is about giving.
But it seems to me it has become about receiving now than giving. We mull over what we need to buy for others. We see it as an obligation. “Oh, it’s Christmas, I have to buy this and that for so and so…” We quickly get our Christmas shopping done, to get it done and over with. In turn we eagerly expect to receive a gift from the people around us. Just want any Christmas movie, and you’ll see the most exciting part for the children would be Christmas morning where they receive and open their gift. The message: Christmas is fun, because you receive gifts. Not that there’s anything wrong with it. I just feel that it could be improved. There should be as much joy in the giving as the receiving. I’d love to watch a movie that shows just much trouble a person goes through to get that one gift for his or her loved one. Emphasis should be given to the person who is actually giving, and the joy in it. They say love means sacrifice. Love means giving without expectation. Instead, we get a whole lot of “I got this for Christmas… I got that for Christmas….” When we say Christmas is the season of giving, we really are referring to those around us. They give… we receive. We give too, but only because we want to receive! I may be wrong, and I’m sure many people aren’t like that. But watching all sorts of Christmas movies and the emphasis given, that’s the impression I get.
In a way, Christmas is just another excuse for us Malaysians to go shopping. Its never celebrated with as much hype as other celebrations like Aidilfitri, Chinese New year or Deepavali, but you get a big Christmas discount anyway. Real Christmas celebrations are really confined to the Christian communities, within Churches and homes. Though I always feel a little strange seeing Christmas trees around since firstly, those are fake trees, and secondly, who said we had to have a Christmas tree? And I get this funny when I hear that song that goes “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…. “ simply because there I have never seen a white Christmas.
It can’t hurt to celebrate Christmas, its just the original message of it seems to be drowned out more and more by secularism and consumerism. Christmas is more about the latest game console, the newest toys, whether Windows Vista will come out in time. Then when that is sorted out, we talk about Santa, we talk about Rudolph, and we talk about the Christmas tree, the jingle bells, the presents under the tree……… So much so that, we all conspicuously forget to talk about that one other guy who’s birthday we are really supposed to be celebrating. Do you really need me to say his name?
Merry Christmas everyone.. God bless you and stay safe.
posted by Compulsive Blogger @ 1:21 am
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