Let us incarnate!

Reminders of the holiday season are ubiquitous these days, and so are the disgruntled protests from the camp of the neo-atheists or from concerned secularists who cry wolf every time an image of, or unambiguous reference to, Jesus surfaces in public discourse. 

I feel no immediate need to throw my own less tested intellectual weight into the fray of the verbal debacle, but I have every intention of marking the birth of Jesus both during the upcoming holiday season, as well as, hopefully, in the ensuing days of expected humdrum and monetary hangover. Christmas will feature prominently within the context of family life as far as as my own batch of celebrants are concerned, not only because culturally we are equally involved as is the overwhelming majority in the annual seasonal, small-scale pageantry, but also because the advent of Jesus has impacted us, all five of us, in real and personal ways.


Christmas means family fun, yes, opulent dinners, granted, tiring reruns on the telly, as always, and a prolonged period of isolated 'tribal' interaction. True. But through the sometimes blurring mist of inherited traditions, there is, to me, a passionate, provoking, pleading voice to be heard. The voice of the Lord himself.


NO NEUTRAL GROUND


Traditions are neutral time-markers;  traditions positively reaffirm our cultural and spiritual identities, but traditions also, seemingly, possess a troubling capacity to dull our sense of proportion and spiritual propriety. We pour presents on those who already have trouble finding space to accomodate their personal belongings, and we practically engage in eating binges that at times revolt and disgust me. That kind of behaviour can hardly be said to be mandated by the Bible.


But whereas I do not believe in the inherent virtue of stinginess or unmitigated frugality, I also believe that the 'temporal pleasures of Chirstmas need to be privately evaluated by those of us who profess faith in the God-man who eventually left the manger. Because Jesus did not come in order for us to have an excuse to diversify our menues, or spend useful hours creating pleasurable cultural icons. Jesus came to upend our world as his contemporaries knew it, and, sadly, as we still know it.


The event during night time on some obscure field outside Betlehem, and the birth that coincided amid the foul odours of the stable, heralded a new beginning. It was everything but a lucky confluence of divine will and human initiative. The Birth of Jesus meant God giving all of himself to redeem us from the endless cycle of errors and shortcomings otherwise known as sin.


A CHALLENGE FOR ME - AND FOR YOU


Oh, yes, the Birth of Jesus is an event with obvious political ramifications. It challenges us people of faith to reassess our perception of people from other backgorunds and religions, and to stop regarding or treating them as enemies or objects of divine wrath  (Jesus always taught the unity of man through a common descent and a shared destiny). And because my enemy is now my neighbour, I can no longer justifiably ignore him. I must use my suffrage to endorse and support those who work toward the common good - in light of Scriptural principles.

The birth of Jesus also has some very down-to-earth ramifications for me personally. If I do not step out of my cushioned existence in my ivory towers of material comfort, I end up ridiculing and ignoring the very cry from Jesus' heart: Do you see your brother lying there in the gutter? Do you spot the suffering of the orphans dying from AIDS? Do you hear the pleads from the downtrodden; the guest worker and the asylum seeker?


MISSING THE MARK


I often feel ashamed as I constantly am made aware of how much of my world is filled with me. And this year, too, I am reminded that the incarnation of Jesus requires of me that I undergo a similar incarnation: stepping out of my comfort-zone cravings to embody the love that Jesus ceaselessly showed to the ones around him. If people cannot see the love of Jesus in me, or through my sharing and giving of materail wealth, then my faith will be of no value at all. 


The sick and needy cannot benefit from my good intentions, only from the hand that reaches past barriers and comfort zones to provide their very real need.


 I pray I will do better in 2011 than was the case in 2010.