As I muscled my way through the shopping crowd this evening, an advertisement in the form of a signage caught my attention. It had an association with ‘ The Spirit of Christmas’. While it is not uncommon for marketers and advertisers to tap on and employ the use of that phrase this season, a question on whether that Spirit of Christmas reflects and authentically represents The Spirit of hopeful anticipation and joy of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, 2000+ years ago is something to be deeply pondered upon and not to be taken lightly.
Enter into any main-stream church at this time of the year and you’ll definitely see the depiction of this celebration in a pictorial and/or statuary form of the nativity scene – Baby Jesus surrounded by Mother Mary with Joseph, the 3 wise-men and the animals in a lowly manger. A stark contrast compared to the ‘celebrations’ of rich foods and indulgences that we partake in today.
As we approach Christmas - the birth of our saviour in just a few days, let us prepare ourselves by being conscious of the false notions of celebration along with the distorted messages and truly celebrate in the manner that pleases Jesus himself , which is to live out the commandments he left us with – To love God and Neighbour.
Below is a list of ways to celebrate and experience Christmas in truth :
1) Constantly Reflect upon the birth of Christ, his purpose and the love of God for us.
2) Avoid self indulgences (ie : excessive eating and drinking in parties ) but instead spare a thought for the needy through gifts and acts of kindness.
3) Appreciate those around you by spending quality time with them.
4) Make the above changes a way of life.
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