Beneath the pretty wrappings lies the heart of Christmas
If ever there are moments to be savoured, Christmas has them. Why indeed do we bustle so frantically at Christmas time? What truly does Christmas mean?
The true essence of Christmas: The birth of Christ. Pic courtesy AFP
For most of us it has become not only carols, but also the pressing crowds in the shops, the snarl of traffic. If we pause for a moment, we can sort out our widest sense, for love is a part of what Christmas means, we believe.
Christmas also means simplicity, simplicity of worship and hospitality and of gifts. St Luke’s account of Christ’s birth is an unexcelled model of simplicity – so simple in the fact and in the telling- but so divinely magnificent in meaning.
“And she brought forth her first-born Son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes , and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
May we remember, especially on Christmas Day that expensive gifts and all the gaudy trappings of the Christmas celebration have no meaning except as tokens of love.
Do you feel the joy of Christmas? For Christmas is above all joy – the joy of a heart open to the bounties of earth, good friends, good food, a shower of rain, the sparkle in children’s eyes, sun and starry skies, and the blessings of heaven.
This is the joy of joys shared in a common pool, and thereby many times increased. In the words of Helen Keller, “Christmas is the harvest time of love, souls are drawn to other souls, ….we dare to give friendship, service, the equal loaf of bread and love.”
What really makes Christmas? Behind the holly and the Santas, behind the colourful lights and decorations, is Mary’s inability to find a decent place to give birth to her infant son.
The first Christmas present – so Christians believe – was God Himself. God’s love in person, on earth, and it was wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Our modern Christmas can be so wrapped up in the bright packaging of commercialization that you have to look consciously for the real meaning, the essence, the core of Christmas.
Is this season dedicated to attractive gifts scattered under a green tree or to a tiny child lying on yellow straw?
We must bring ourselves to remember that Christmas comes to us all the way from a sacred spot called Bethlehem, and from a holy night hundreds and hundreds of years ago.
On that first Christmas, nobody was concerned with holly wreaths and Santas, or greeting cards or gifts. All attention funnelled down, like the light of the star, on a bleak cave and a helpless babe. This is the heart of Christmas.