Christmas is NOT about Santa Claus.
Christmas is NOT about noche buena.
Christmas is NOT about peace, justice, forgiveness, reconciliation, love.
Christmas is NOT about gifts.
Christmas is NOT about family.
Christmas is NOT about partying with friends.
Christmas is NOT about children or the children-at-heart.
What, then, is Christmas all about?
Or, the better question would be, WHOM is Christmas all about?
Christmas is all about a newborn child, a specific kid—not kids in general.
Christmas is about that boy, whose nanay and tatay were refused accommodation in the inns.
Christmas is about that boy, born in a stable, wrapped in cloths used by commoners.
Christmas is about that boy, whose birth was witnessed by animals.
Christmas is about that boy, whose birth was the cause of angels’ partying.
Christmas is about that boy, whose first human visitors were common folk—shepherds, to be precise.
Christmas is about that boy, whose birthplace was pointed to by a brilliant star.
Christmas is about that boy, who was worshipped like a king by three star-studying scholars from distant lands.
Christmas is about that boy, who was the target of a shoot-to-kill manhunt ordered by a jealous king.
You would think that Christmas is about joy and laughter. You are wrong. Christmas is about humiliation, self-humiliation of a God who had to take on human flesh in order to carry out a salvific plan. The humiliation of Christmas is the direct contrast of the exaltation and victory of Easter. Yet, one cannot exist without the other, and both are inextricable threads of the whole salvation story.
What, then, is Christmas all about?
Or, the better question would be, WHOM is Christmas all about?
Once you realize the answer, you will discover many of your Christmas rituals and activities meaningless, until you bring Christ back into Christ-mas.
Photo credits: “Nativity” (http://ladymacbeth86.deviantart.com/) and “Christmas” (http://www.sxc.hu/profile/klsa12)
Haring Wati
Haring Wati (King Earthworm) is the idiosyncratic and eccentric king of Saksaksinagol.com, but before anything else, he is many things rolled into one. He writes for pleasure and incidentally makes a living out of it. He is die-hard Cebuano. He is also known as Elmer Montejo.