Christmas and Humanity
Being human is wonderful….
It’s again another Christmas. For Christians, it is the one of the most important moments; and for others, it’s an important holiday season. There is an all-time critique from “many Christians” that Christmas has lost many of its originality and has become a “grand festive season.” Though it can be a starting point, the response is not about bashing others or to point fingers at others, but to see what Christmas means for a person who loves Jesus (which includes non-Christians too).
According to the traditional Christian belief, Jesus became human to save the world. Or a better expression would be that, the love of God was the principle reason for the incarnation. When this reason is a theological statement, a more scientific fact is that he was born to a poor couple, was born in a manger (stable). In some sense, he was born in an extremely poor condition. Why Jesus (whom Christians consider as God, others as a great human being) was born in such an extreme poverty? Consideration of Jesus as a great human being may not have much difficulties with the poverty associated with his birth. But there is some difficulty of believing that God was born as a human-being, and especially in poverty. Or may be the difficulty is associated with our understanding of God.
In a Christian logic, the incarnation is the greatest appreciation for the humanity. For appreciating humanity, why he has to be born in poverty? One of my responses may be that the poor has the minimum of attachments (likes/preferences… i can’t find the proper term) which can hide the humanity. The humanity may be most brightly shinining there. I don’t go to that extreme narrative that everything we have (or possess) are problematic, as it hinders humanity. It is worth remembering that Jesus was not very poor in his later life. But his was a life, where humanity shine forth. A question that can be asked on our individual and collective level is,
Is humanity shining through my life? What are those attachments (or talents) that prevent humanity from being shown through my personal and social life?
The question is not asked to point fingers at others, especially outside the church; but the question is pointing fingers on each one of us (our own fingers), and at our structures.
A good question to all the leaders of the church (i am not yet officially, though soon in some way) and to all the passionate artists of evangelisation is …. How much the structures (insitution and struggles associated with any institution) of the Church and structures (morality, culture etc) of our own lives are helping the humanity to be revealed and appreciated as in the birth of Jesus during Christmas? A honest response may help the Church to bring more authentically Christ (one who became human) into our Christmas.
Jesus tell us that being a human is wonderful… Do we help others to experience and say the same???
