Christmas

 A Religious and Cultural Festival

Christmas has now become not only a religious festival but also a cultural one.

As soon as the Christmas season begins around the world, the joy of the Christian community becomes visible. In the West, Christmas celebrations start as soon as December begins, and these celebrations continue with enthusiasm until the arrival of the New Year.

Christians believe that when a person feels the joy of Christmas within themselves, they feel that the unrest, bad thoughts, hatred, violence, and attitude of considering others inferior and lesser is being removed from within them. However, surprisingly, as soon as Christmas and the New Year are over, a person seems to return to their old ways, and within them, the same unrest, contempt and disrespect for others, oppression and tyranny over the weak, and the attitude of considering themselves superior to others seems to return, with a clear effect of "I" being evident. For this reason, peace-loving Christians have an innocent wish that the Christmas season would last throughout the year and never end.

The meaning of Christmas is happiness, hope, peace, and safety. Christians want to celebrate this festival of joy and peace with people all over the world. Therefore, in the West, you will clearly see examples such as free entry to everyday items, clothing, groceries, and entertainment spots for tourism, and these discounts are not just for Christians but for everyone living in those countries, regardless of their religion, sect, color, race, or gender. We can rightly say that Christmas has gained the status of a cultural festival along with being a religious festival, and it is awaited by everyone every year.

ghe birth of Lord Jesus Christ was in accordance with God's great plan, according to which He wanted to send a savior to the world to deliver humanity from their sins. He would raise the downtrodden and free people from their sins. His kingdom was not of this fleeting world but the kingdom of hpaeaven, which the rulers of that time could not understand, and surprisingly, the descendants of those same rulers still refuse to accept the "Christ." From my limited knowledge of religion, I believe that the second coming of Christ is also a mystery that cannot be understood without the wisdom given by God.

The fact that Christ was born in a poor household symbolized that God greatly loves the poor, and Christ clearly stated that "the poor are the heirs of God's kingdom." But if we look at it from a worldly perspective, every poor person spends their entire life trying to become rich, during which they exploit the weaker ones in some form. You can observe this clearly. Whether you look from the lower level to the upper level or vice versa, you will observe that every powerful individual seems to exploit others, whether on an individual or collective level, or whether it is a country, exploitation is happening in some form with the weak. Every powerful country seems to oppress others. In households, financially stronger siblings will dismiss the weaker one's every word as unimportant. In village councils, the poor person's opinion, no matter how important, will be dismissed. This is completely contrary to the teachings of Christ.

If you observe carefully, you will see that the whole life of "Christ" revolves around hope, peace, and security, in which there is no room for hatred, and He always encouraged forgiveness, an example also followed by the followers of other religions. Mahatma Gandhi also based the philosophy of non-violence on Christ’s teaching of forgiveness, which he openly expressed.

After the birth of Jesus, you will notice clear changes in the world. After the arrival of Christ, the world began to distinguish between Before Christ (BC) and After Christ (AD). The Christian calendar was established. The teaching of Christ to forgive His enemies stunned the world, and even today, Christianity is remembered for this very teaching. The philosophy of non-violence started to be seen from a new perspective in the world. The world was forced to rethink Christ's teaching, which spoke only of good news for the poor.

Christmas asks: In the present age, Christians claim to be the largest group in the world, and they talk about following Christ's example, but do they truly follow it in practice? Although the Holy Bible clearly states in an incident where Christ asked the woman who was about to be stoned for adultery by the Pharisees, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," and surprisingly, no one could throw a stone at her. But in today's world, amidst all the sins, we continue to do the very things Christ forbade. We, trapped in sin, indulging in luxury, try to humiliate, degrade, and mock other weaker humans like ourselves. Even during our worship, it has become common to disprove our own church, scare them, instill the fear of hell, and force them to give "donations" under any circumstances. We constantly say, "I" am right, everyone else is wrong.

These are the common behaviors we observe every day, and yet, we still claim to be Christians, which is completely contrary to Christ’s teachings. Christmas asks: With such behavior, can we truly celebrate the joy of Christmas? Can we follow Christ’s role model without removing "I" from within us?

Let us, to double the joy of Christmas, individually and collectively pledge that the process of change will begin with ourselves. We will include the poor in the joy of Christmas at our level. We will remove "I" from within ourselves, give respect to all people, and we will practically prove the important message of Christ—"forgiveness"—by embracing it within us. Only by doing so can we truly celebrate the great day (Christmas).