What Christmas Means To A Non Christian



Posted: Wednesday, December 20, 2006

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I am not a Christian, but there is something about Christmas that appeals to me as no other religious festival does. As a child, whenever I was told the story, I would wonder why Joseph and Mary left the task of finding lodgings to prepare for the birth of the baby Jesus till it was almost too late. I especially loved the part where the three Magi found him in a manger and presented him with their exotic gifts. As a parent, I can empathise with the worry that Joseph and Mary must have tried so hard to hide from each other, as inn after inn turned them away. I can imagine how Joseph must have felt; bringing his heavily pregnant young wife to a place that was not all that familiar and his feeling of helplessness at not being able to provide basic amenities at such a crucial time. Mary must have been engrossed, as most women are who are close to giving birth, in thoughts of the baby, wondering about her ability to manage alone save for her husband, so far from home – surely this was not what she thought would happen when she was given the glad tidings by the Angel Gabriel. And now, as an adult having faced my own share of life’s vicissitudes, I feel I finally understand the true meaning of that birth.

It is about faith in the Lord, love for each other and hope that we can all be far more honorable than we are. It is about the kindness of strangers and the longing of people to be in the presence of goodness. It touches on some of our deepest fears and yet holds out the promise of better times to come. In a world riven with hatred, violence, greed and suspicion, where selfishness has become a kind of survivor tactic, the celebration of the birth of Christ is like a symbol of the possibility of change that one man can bring about. Whether one believes that Jesus is the Son of God, a prophet or even just a very holy man, there is no gainsaying the power of his teachings and their relevance today. Perhaps the best way of celebrating Christmas is for each of us, regardless of our individual creed, to incorporate the lessons he taught his followers into our lives, thereby helping in our own little way to change our world for the better.


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