Christmas, in this island where Christians are a small
minority tending towards an even smaller slice in the population pie, is
celebrated as though it is the religion of the majority. Well, at least in the major cities. It helps when countless retail outlets use
Christmas to move stuff off the shelves.
Come Christmas time, in this tropical island that has never seen a
snowflake ever, store windows get dotted with cotton-wool ‘snow’, draped in red
and green, along with the inevitable Santa Clause positioned inside or made
‘live’ outside.
This year is different. No, that’s not because it is the 10th
anniversary of the tragic Boxing Day tsunami that took tens of thousands of
lives and rendered hundreds of thousands homeless in 2004. The Resplendent Island, in the aftermath of
the tsunami could have been re-dubbed ‘The Land of Resilience’, for today, ten
years later, there’s little evidence that it was hit by waves unlike any ever
witnessed. If Christmas is a bit
off-color this year, metaphorically speaking, it is because there’s an
important election coming up.
The Presidential Election will be held on January 8,
2015. Almost five years ago there was
another Presidential Election. Just like
this one that was also dubbed ‘Too Close to Call’. The incumbent (who is running for re-election
again) Mahinda Rajapaksa won in a canter on that occasion. Everyone was surprised. Well, not everyone. The most surprised were those in Colombo, who
backed the former Army Commander, Sarath Fonseka. Perhaps their predictions were based on what
(like-minded) friends said about personal preferences.
This time, the contender has things going for him that
Fonseka didn’t. Regime-fatigue, drop in
regime-popularity, greater levels of discontent, among other things. And again, in Colombo for example, there’s
growing excitement about the election.
It takes a big of gloss off Christmas, naturally. The shops are there, appropriately frilled
and ‘signed’, but conversations don’t drift in that direction. It’s mostly about Mahinda, Mahinda’s
cut-outs, why he should be loved or hated as the case may be, Maithripala,
those in Maithree’s team and their histories, adding up numbers, making
predictions etc.
But then again, it is not that in other years people did
nothing but talk about Christmas, Christmas shopping, Santa Clause, Christmas
parties and gifts expected, purchased and planned to be purchased. Christmas is all about color, but it is not
just that.
It is about Jesus Christ.
Ok, there’s controversy about the correct date of birth and the
convenience of date-convergence with the Winter Solstice, the Roman midwinter
festivals Saturnalia and Dies Natalis Solis Invecti. These are trivialities where faith is
concerned. The fact remains that that
Christmas is made for marketing. Like
Vesak (in recent times) or any other day held sacred by any religious
community.
And so we reflect thus:
A Christmas
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And so they went
from one store to the
next
to the next and next
all bedecked in
Christmas color
melodied with
Christmas cheer
the fake mistletoe,
the red-nosed reindeer
and Santa too
the glitter and
shine
the bells and
lights,
all screaming
‘Purchase!’
all carrying the
soft small print tag
‘In the name of
Jesus’
(or was it the
other way about?),
all laid out for
them folks
armed with crisp
currency notes
and easy plastic.
And they came,
they saw
they were glad too,
for they went away
duly garmented
while the raiment
of the Savior
so visible all over
remained unvisited.
The eyes of the
faithful
were fervent in
prayer,
elsewhere.
But then again, there’s a time to shop and a time to
pray. There’s a time to indulge and a
time to give. The Christmas of glitter,
deals, shopping is not for those of the Christian faith alone. It is for everyone. A time of good cheer, overall festivity and
even merry-making. Christmas Eve is different
and so is Christmas Day. These are the
days and moments of faith and for the faithful.
This is when the words of Jesus Christ are reflected on, when the worth
of penitence is reflected on, and the life of the Savior is revisited and
relevant lessons drawn.
That Christmas is in every Christian home, in every church
big and small, rich with history and embellishment and every church as poor and
humble as the Savior himself. That
Christmas is not at odds with the articles of faith subscribed to by those
belonging to other religious communities.
And it is in that sense that Christmas can truly be as ‘national’ as any
other day or moment. That Christmas cuts
through the glitter without disturbing the grandeur and festivity, it passes
light over the intrusion of the political moment.
It brings hands together.
People together. Makes the world that much more tender. A blessing, certainly.
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