Irresistible charm of Christmas

"Christmas has become matter-of-fact, an ordinary yearly occurrence, much of the spiritual significance having eroded. We have somehow lost the meaning of Paul's exuberant words: "In Christ old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

"For us to rediscover the basic truths of the Bethlehem event, we should do what modern technology does with the old movies. It transforms the old black and white movies into vivid living color. And so we can now view the old movies, such as Ben Hur, Gone With the Wind, Jesus of Nazareth, and others in live, splendid, glowing color.

"What we sorely need this Christmas is a spiritual process you which a spiritually drab celebration can assume brevity in motion and long on meaning. We want a season alive in living color."

Those are words from the mouth of one of my favorite pastor/theologians, Dr. Proceso U. Udarbe, former minister of Silliman University Church. They are found in his collection of reflections entitled Fulfillment of a High Calling, published by the Divinity School, Silliman University, last year.

How we can experience Christmas in living color "so that its charm is once again irresistible?

Dr. Udarbe answers those questions in three approaches. First, attribution of Christmas to the theme of selflessness; celebrating Christmas as a symbol of peace, and celebrating the truth that "God is available to us when we seek Him."

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That "God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" is the central theme of the Bible which "speaks of God's generosity in the coming of One who was in the form of God and came as a lowly slave."

Dr. Udarbe mentions as an example of selflessness First Lieutenant Mary Grace Baloyo, 26, who died in a plane crash. When the place piloted by her and her co-pilot encountered foul weather, there was the danger of crashing into a place where there were many homes and people. While her co-pilot was able to eject, Mary Grace stayed on at the controls to maneuver the plane away from the place. "She saved many lives, but she herself died in the crash. That is selflessness," writes Dr. Udarbe.

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As to celebrating Christmas as a symbol of peace on earth, Dr. Udarbe says, "Living as we do in a turbulent world – with conflicts continuing to devastate life, we cannot celebrate Christmas as a symbol of peace on earth. Peace was the mark of Christmas for the sheherds who heard the angels sing: "Peace on earth, goodwill to man."

"Our world that celebrates the Nativity is a world that experiences a violence much worse than at the time Jesus was born. For today there are many "Herods.‚ Right at the very place – Bethlehem – where Jesus was born there is the exchange of gunfire and grenades between the Israelites and the Palestinians. Shalom, the favorite word in the Middle East, is a sham."

Dr. Udarbe says that refugees are suffering from hunger and diseases because of the war, and the "religious" war in Mindanao.

He talks of the healing of broken lives and relations, of families and communities. For us Christmas must become not only a symbol but a reality of peace one earth. And the prayer for each one is expressed in a song we have kept singing: "Let there be peace on earth . . . and let it begin with me."

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As to our experiencing God as being available to us when seek Him, Udarbe says, One line of an anthem calls us to accept this truth, even if it is not a Christmas hymn. "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found; call yet upon him while he is near."

"As we all know, the coming of God into human life was the answer to the yearning of mankind for completion, for wholeness, for health, for peace, for consolation.

"And this human craving was brought into focus in that cave where Jesus was born. Christmas makes known to us God's revelation of himself, that he is Immanuel – God with us, god available, God mighty to save.

"That is why amidst all the Christmas décor, the exchange of gifts, the feasting on the noche buenas, we must reflect on God as known, as loved, as needed."

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Udarbe tells the story told by a Sunday School teacher. At an Advent season, she gathered her pupils to create a beautiful Belen. The children were all excited, making a stable from rice straw, and a crib in which lay a beautiful doll representing baby Jesus, and the clay figures of the Magi, Mary and Joseph surrounding the babe. As they finished the project, one little boy looked puzzled. He said, "Where does God fit in?"

"Sometimes in our expressions of love to one another, our endless singing of "kasadya niining taknaa," we kind of forget the true meaning of it all – that there is a God, with us – closer than hands and feet, ever approachable. For in Jesus, God identifies himself with our pains and sufferings, with our proneness to sin, our bewilderments, as well as our joys, our dreams of peace, not only the cessation of hostilities in our homes and communities, but peace in our hearts.

Udarbe closes his reflections thus:

"Wherein lies the irresistible charm of Christmas?

That God is Immanuel; he is in our midst; he is in our hearts, in our homes; in our world."

That we be nourished by Shalom and we can sing: ‘Let there be peace on earth‚ and stress the phrase ‘Let it be the moment now.’

"That we learn the selflessness of the Christmas spirit: "for he who loses his life for Jesus' sake shall find it."

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May you have a happy and blessed Christmas!

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