Christmas is the time to become a rebel

Christmas is the most beautiful story of mankind. It is a story of rebellion — for the hopeless to become hopeful. How the birth of Jesus rouses both the erudite and the unschooled to be kind, to be joyful, to be hopeful remains the most inspiring tale ever told.

Christmas is about the richness of the spirit. It is a tale of rebellion of the soul to seek the truth, to find the power to be kind, to be giving, to be forgiving. How the rich and the poor are blessed from the birth of the Savior is both mystery and magic that is worth more than gold and silver. It is abundance and fortitude rolled into one celebration whether one has nothing or everything.

Christmas is about salvation. It is a story of rebellion of the mind to remain buoyant and optimistic when there’s a cobweb of sadness and uncertainty around its wires. How the sinners and saints enjoy redemption now is a beautiful love story of how God sent His Son, the original man for others, so one day He would become the payment for the sins of the world, past, present and future.

Why we believe in the good life, even if we are saddled with hardship, is because we believe in Christmas. That belief is rebellion unmasked. Christmas is the birth of impossible dreams becoming possible realities. It fuels us to do our part in becoming better, fulfilling our own dreams however stiff or steep the ordeal is.

When there’s so much bad news and desolation around the world, Christmas is good news worth celebrating because its message does not change from year to year. It is the time of healing and renewed strength. It is the time to reflect, rejuvenate and rejoice. Man’s ability to defy negativity is an uprising won.

Christmas is also for the lonely hearts, for the brokenhearted to rebel for a cause far greater than sadness. The ability of the human heart to glimpse a flickering light is rebellion against darkness. Christmas gives the lonely heart, the broken heart, the opportunity to be steadfast, to hold on, to hope. To heal. One moment in time. One little moment of rebellion at a time.

Christmas, to use a platitude, is all the more for the lost, for the least, for the last. For Christmas is the joystick of those tired of playing the game of life. To some extent, it is the compass directing the believers that though not all problems have solutions, the fact remains that all problems can be managed.

The true meaning of Christmas is the greatest equalizer. Minus the commercial trappings that concomitantly go with the season now, Christmas is the even playing field for the haves and have-nots because neither has a monopoly on joy and hope. To the manor Jesus was not born. No one in the neighborhood had space for His mother heavy with Him. His parents found a spot in Bethlehem, an unlikely stable of animals not befitting the King that He is. And when He was born, the first Christmas carols were sung by the shepherds attending to their flock at night who heard of His birth, albeit the distance, from an angel that appeared to them announcing: “This very day in David’s town your savior was born — Christ the Lord!” With joy and songs in their hearts, the shepherds navigated the night to find the Baby wrapped in cloth, lying in a manger. What a joy to the world when they first laid their eyes on Him.

It was the poor congregation of shepherds that first knew of His birth. The poor saw Him first. And the poor became rich in more ways than one after they learned about His birth — because they believed. Faith is an armament in winning a rebellion.

Before the wise men followed a bright star to Bethlehem in search of a newborn king to offer Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, the shepherds were there first, offering the Baby the joy in their hearts. Joy, in the scheme of a world diluted with and deluded in commercialism, is in itself a currency. Joy cannot buy an Xbox but it is a gaming console for those who want to play the game of life to be better. Joy cannot buy fiesta ham but it can create Christmas even for the weary of hearts. Joy cannot be monetized but its purity can create an opportunity for a better life. Joy is a reason why there is war —people don’t find it in their hearts.

Christmas is a celebration that invites us to become a rebel. We rebel against life’s challenges. Jesus was born a rebel if we look at it from the perspective that leaders should favor the poor, mindful of dole-outs because Jesus himself was (and still is) for a sustainable lifestyle. And faith is an intrinsic ingredient to an unpretentious life. (Consider the 10 Commandments that God gave to Moses long before Jesus was born.) Jesus was a rebel because His cause was for the salvation of mankind.

My Catholic faith tells me that in the spectrum of God, the last, the least and the lost are actually the first, the most, and the found. Jesus experienced it first. But He had faith. Even in his most desolate, excruciating times, He kept the faith.

That’s the miracle of Christmas. That even with the blues that come with the season, the loneliness of the faithful shifts to a gear of hope — because one has faith, because one has the resolute will to celebrate the season with a heart as open as the sky. Because one is a rebel at heart.

Christmas is still the most beautiful love story ever told. It is also mankind’s most empowering story of rebellion.

Merry Christmas!