The New Face of Christmas

The first Christmas was oppositely different to the feast in which we celebrate today. There was a frightened virgin who was told by an angel that she is going to have a baby, the very Son of God and the King of the world. The news was good, but it carried within a lot of consequences we tend to ignore these days. If her fiance did not believe her and if he told anyone about her pregnancy she would have been killed with stones for adultery. Maybe many people mocked her when she told them that she got pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. The day Jesus was born it is considered to be the first day of Christmas. Today we celebrate with joy, but that day Jesus was born in a manger, and although there was a humble place, the angels of Heaven brought and rejoiced with the shepherds because God came to Earth and the prophecy fulfilled! Isn't it obvious that the Son of God is not looking for human glory, but for the superior, supernatural fame that comes from GOD Himself?! It is the best thing to do to this day for us as well.

After Christ's birth, Joseph was told not to return home because there's a slaughter happening ordered by the roman governor. Therefore, the first Christmas was all wrapped in humility, the feeling of not being wanted and isolation. This does not mean, of course, that people should celebrate the same way, because there will be then no celebration, but it is important to know it because it gives a reason to meditate on the real significance of Christmas.

What is sad though is the fact that the new face of Christmas has nothing to do with the events that took place on that cold winter night. Nowadays Christmas represents just a means to bring the family together, which is not bad in its essence, but it is weird that the real sense of Christmas is abandoned. For many people this holiday only represents a table full of diverse and delicious foods, a tree full of lights and ribbons, Christmas carols, gifts and Santa. Children are no longer told about baby Jesus who came to rescue the world, but all the focus is on Santa and on material things. Furthermore, there is a new fashion which replaced the first part of the "Christmas" word with an "x", and so, the stores and new commercials talk about "X-mas". The reason the explanation given says that the first version talks about a typical Christian figure and this could easily offend those who are not sharing the same religion. And that is, as they say, a real issue for the globalized world in which we live.

All these changes brought together a huge consequence. Because Christmas is now a celebration meant to unite the family, because it is all about gifts and abundance many people who lack these are overwhelmed with anxiety and depression. The statistics show that Christmas is in top twenty of the factors which are responsible for stress. This is the time of the year when people feel the loneliest and the most miserable. They are stressed with buying gifts, they feel anxious about family reunions which usually end up in silence and in the feeling that anyone feels uncomfortable with the ones which they ignore the rest of the year. Children whose families don't have a good financial situation are overwhelmed with sadness when comparing to those who received the most wanted toy from Santa.

By contrast, there are still a few who celebrate differently. There are still people who know that on Christmas they celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. There still are people who know that even though they don't have abundance in their houses they have love and peace and they also know that Somebody is watching over them. There still are people who give from what they have to those who don't have at all, who visit orphanages and elderly care centers and who spend time and financial resources to bring a bit of joy to those lonely hearts. There still are people who realize that this world is messed up and that Christmas is a motif of melancholy and suffering for many but the ones that truly love God are still full of a joy brought in not by circumstances but by the fact that Christ is not a helpless baby any longer, but a real Friend, Adviser, Advocate and Defender of all those who put their trust in Him.

That Child became a wise, miracle working man but despised, beaten and then crucified, yet raised from the death after three days! That man overcame this broken world! And that Man was God himself who promised that one day every tear will be wiped out from every eye! To really have Christ in your life, means that the doors of Heaven are open to you and you have access at all treasures! Oh, jump in! He is the best treasure of them all because within Christ there are hidden all treasures!