Almost ordinarily, when a special someone celebrates a birthday, what we
do is to well-wish that person, offer a present or celebrate the occasion with
revelry and fanfare for it to be remembered by the celebrant as a momentous
event of his or her life. Not that it is wrong, it is not right to do it on
Christmas. God does not want us to celebrate it that way. Christmas is not how
you remember it but rather how you live it. It is not about dates. It is about
"dating" it.
One has to be mindful that remembering and living are two different
things. While the other simply knows, the other one acts. The fact that God
gave his son to the world, is to show his active presence in human affairs. And
that is how we want us to live our lives -- to take an active role to in making
this world a little better each day.
But how do we make this world a better place? The First Christmas has
all the answers. But we can't find those answers right away in the Christmas
story we read in the Bible. The Bible only cites the genealogy and
circumstances of Jesus' lowly birth. And I would like to surmise why all four
Gospels only described the "whats" in Jesus birth for us to discover
the "whys" behind it all.
You see, you don't read the Christmas story like your history books. God
wants us to read his story between the lines so it is not about history but
rather how God makes a history in our lives which brings us back to the idea of
dating rather than the date. Hence, the essence of the Christmas story is to
understand its purpose not the history because more often than not, we can't
really know why things just happen. History, can be best appreciated if left
understood for its lessons -- the same goes for the true meaning of
Christmas.
It is hard to understand why God had to send Jesus only to be nailed to
death later. St. Thomas Aquinas wises that since we cannot know God, we can
know him by what he is not. Since we know that God cannot be hate, he can
therefore only be love. I would like to believe that this is the whole essence
of Christmas. Christmas is God's expression of love to mankind we know in John
3:16. It is was a present so we may come to know that God is not always “up
there” but “with us” that is why Jesus was called "Emmanuel" or God
with us. There is no greater present than the gift of God's presence through
Jesus.
“It’s better to give than to receive.” We’ve all heard that saying, but that doesn’t mean we truly believe it. Sure, it’s good to give a gift to someone else. We get the satisfaction of seeing their face light up and knowing that we have made them happy. But how could that possibly be better than receiving a gift yourself? It turns out that the old proverb is more than just wishful thinking, though. Giving actually can be better than receiving, for a variety of reasons—and it’s a proven scientific fact.
We do
give gifts—a lot. The total value of all gifts given in the U.S., including
charitable donations and volunteering, exceeds half a trillion dollars
each year. Why do
we give so much? There are several different reasons for giving gifts,
including:
1. To show
love. Giving
someone a gift expresses how much we care about
them, in a way that goes beyond just words.
2. To show
gratitude. Gifts
are often used to say "thank you" to
people who have helped us out in some way.
3. To get something in return. A gift
may be given in hopes of getting something back, such as sending a gift to a
business prospect when trying to score a sale.
4. To meet
expectations. Sometimes
gifts are expected of us, such as when attending a wedding. We
may then give a gift partly to avoid disappointing anyone.
5. To make a difference. Charitable
giving can be used to help a cause we care about, or to leave a legacy with our
lives. In each
case, there is some (often small) benefit to the person giving the gift. But
that is only part of the story.
And if we are to celebrate Christmas, we have to celebrate it with our
loving presence instead of feasting. What great joy it would be if we come
together as family and share that loving presence with each other even without
the partying. What great joy there is if we also celebrate Christmas that same
loving presence together with a sick or a hungry neighbor. Or what about
spending Christmas with those who are abandoned by their loved ones? In the
words of Mother Teresa, “Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten
by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty
than the person who has nothing to eat.”
God does not expect us to do great things this Christmas. We only need
to do things with great love. Finally, this Christmas, may we contemplate God’s
humility in Jesus, his divinity hidden beneath the poverty of a the Holy Infant
wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger; the Master and Creator of
the universe reduced to the helplessness of a child. Once we accept this
paradox, may we discover the truth behind it and that truth is His Love. The
First Noel, the Savior becomes one of us, our companion along the trying times.
May we all take his hand which he stretches out to us: a hand which seeks to
take nothing from us, but only to give.
REFERENCE:
Images
we should spread the love
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