Christmas

There's a lot of controversies on Christmas. For most of us though, let us worry about something even more fundamental than the controversies of Christmas.



One of the problem of being a first generation Christians is that we live in a cultural vacuum; without history, without a past, and without a cultural identity. What do I mean by that? Simple. I am a Chinese; besides speaking, reading and writing Chinese, and besides knowing a little bit about Chinese history, literature, philosophy etc, I live like a Chinese. I eat Chinese food, I celebrate Chinese festive days, including Chinese New Year. I celebrate Chinese New Year not merely as a holiday - the Malays and Indians have holidays on Chinese New Year, too. I celebrate Chinese New Year with the Eve Dinner, with giving out red packets, with eating Chinese new year cake etc etc etc. This reinforces the importance and centrality of family and family life.

I am a Christian, too. But am I a Christian culturally? Well, do I celebrate Christmas in a way different to people of other faiths? No, not really. Christmas is spent in front of the idiot box, or a tour or a cruise. We have a Christmas tree, but no, it would be too expensive to keep the lights on. Christmas pudding? Wah! RM 16 a piece, too expensive. We need to save up the money for the house mortgage. ("By the way, be grateful that someone paid for your cruise!")

Pragmatism, expediency, practicality - but these not are the only killer of Christmas.

The biggest killer is our willingness to drift along, our failure to think a little bit more. What's so important about these things anyway? Christmas night is no longer spent singing carols to remember the birth of Jesus; to praise and inculcate the gratitude to God for giving us his Son this time 2 000 years ago. Christmas is no longer peaceful and joyous, to reflect our Christian life because Jesus was born to die for us. Christmas is rushing, hurrying, getting intoxicated by fun etc.

Pretty soon, we will drift along in other ways - in our thinking, our living, our habits; our hands, our head, our heart, and Christmas is no longer our heritage; as much as God is no longer our inheritance.

Don't be old fashion, emotional and sentimental, you might say. But I am old fashion and emotional about this; how can I not be, when He as the Almighty God is willing to send his one and only Son to die in my stead?

I did have a Merry Christmas (and the only carols I had was over youtube), or should I say, a Happy Pagan Winter Solstice Holiday. Instead of Jesus, we have this father of winter solstice.



And we blame our children for not being Christian enough ....