Merry Christmas!!
Today, standing in the balcony, I saw a school bus full of cute little children dressed as Santa. This small moment refreshed all the childhood memories when Christmas was the much-awaited festival. That day, we went to school without making any excuses, with our eyes filled with hopes of getting chocolates from the Santa. That jingle bell chorus and decorating trees for the welcome of Santa was the happiest moment. A bar of single chocolate from the Santa made our day and we all made a wish list to be fulfilled by Santa.
Childhood was so wonderful, I wish I could relive it. Walking down the memory lane I realized how the festivals have just become holidays and how we all have just forgotten their real meaning. December 25, celebrated across the globe as the birth of the Son of the God, Jesus Christ, who was born to mother Mary and father Joseph at Bethlehem. The holy soul was sent to earth to spread the message of love and peace to humans and save us from the sins and sorrows.
Christmas is the festival of joy, happiness, peace, love, and forgiveness All over the globe this festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm. The houses are cleaned, delicious delicacies are served with people coming together to celebrate this pious occasion leaving behind all their differences. Christmas trees are decorated and gifts are exchanged to show affection and love towards each other. The whole city and the church are turned into heaven. While adults are busy with their decorations and exchanges, innocent children make their wishlist, keep them in the socks beside the Christmas tree and wait for their Santa Claus to fulfill their wishes.
But with the outdoor preparations, we usually tend to forget the real essence of the festival. The dazzle of the outdoor decoration makes us blind to the real meaning of the customs followed for the celebrations. As Christmas arrives we all start cleaning and decorating our houses and churches. Preoccupied with the cleaning of houses, we often forget to cleanse our souls. This Christmas let’s cleanse our souls of greed and hatred before putting any decoration on the entry gate. Let’s throw away all the bitterness and the negative thoughts before throwing away the used and old clothes away. Let us welcome people with open heart and cleanse our hearts of all the malice of the past. If we decorate our souls with the shimmer of positive thoughts, good heart, and love for everybody, we would be one step closer to the God and lay the foundation of the beautiful tomorrow we all had one imagined in our childhood.
Christmas tree is believed to attract positivity and keep the negative vibes away. It is not just the Christmas tree which attracts positivity, God has blessed us with the mother earth to take care of all our needs. But we have left no stone unturned to exploit the nature for our greed and selfish needs. Christmas not only teaches us to live in harmony with each other but also teaches us to live in harmony with the mother earth. Let this Christmas be the starting of the new era where we all take a pledge to respect all that is around us and make this earth a greener and cleaner place to live in.
Now, Santa Claus. We all have spent our childhood making our wish list and have slept changing sides and waiting for morning to see our gifts and wishes be granted. Now we all grown up, after the reality hit us hard, know that there is no Santa Claus to fulfill our wishes. But what we do not realize is that we all are our lives, Santa Claus. Let this Christmas we forgive ourselves and give ourselves the gift of a better version of ourselves with good hearts and compassion for others. Let us be the Santa for the people in need and grant them their wishes of a better lifestyle. Let us be grateful to God for the beautiful gift of life, wisdom, and mind and use this wisdom for the betterment of society.
Today’s world is not different from the world when Jesus was born. We all live in a world filled with hatred, ignorance, greed, and superstition. We all are children of the Almighty God. This little realization and a small amount of effort can turn our world into a better place to live in. A place where everybody is treated with respect and equality. A place where peace prevails and we all live in harmony with each other. Let this Christmas bring happiness and smile on the faces of people who are less blessed and we all pray to the Almighty God to bless us and take care of us. Let us put all our faith in God and spend our lives working for the other children of God. In the end, I would like to quote Jesus Christ:
“For what shall profit a man, if he gained the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul”
-Chainika Tanwar
