On July 21, 1969, Mr Neil Armstrong and his team of three landed on the moon, which was the most exhilarating moment for U. S. President Richard Nixon, the Americans, and even the whole world. Over 600 million people watched the event on their T.V. After watching it, Mr Nixon was incredibly excited and said: “This is the greatest and most important event after the creation of man”. On this, the famous Billy Graham commented: “… but what about Christmas, the birth of Jesus!!” Indeed, no event is as important as the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ more than 2000 years ago. None of the events in history is as important as the birth of Jesus.

Christmas needs no introduction. The Bible details the birth of Jesus from Mary in Bethlehem in the land of the Jews. The birth of Jesus is the most significant event in history. A. D. or the Christian era started with the birth of Jesus. No one can reasonably deny this historical event. Scientific research has proved that many so-called manifestations of gods and goddesses are refutable! 

To look at Christmas, it has developed into so many areas and realms today. It began with the event of Jesus’ birth and the connected faith and devotion handed down through centuries. As a result of these, now we have Christmas preparation days, four Sundays preceding the great day, preparation by fasting and prayers, Christmas carols, Christmas cards, hymns, Christmas songs, Christmas movies, cribs, Candles, Christmas cakes, sweets, stars, decorations and so much more. There are Christmas holidays, parties, and so on. Just starting with a few believers, there are now more than 45,000 Christian denominations worldwide. Of these, over 200 are in India, including 20 or so in Kerala. Every day, a new denomination is born, and all these are inspired by the memory of Christ, and all of them celebrate Christmas. There may be minor differences in these groups. Some groups follow a foreign tradition, others take an Italian city name, one group is directed by another of Asia Minor, many are inspired by Martin Luther, some are governed by too many laws and customs, and some boast of impeccability that they cannot make a mistake in matters of belief etc. Some groups are pretty flexible, and some are open to new members. Many of these welcome interpretations of the Bible in a very unacademic but practical manner, etc. Some have many followers, whereas others have a small but vibrant community. Surprisingly, all these denominations celebrate Christmas in their own ways. They find their religious, cultural, and Christian fulfilment in them. As Christians, we are not to judge any of these groups. Why look for the dust in my neighbour’s eye while there is a beam in my own.

Apart from religious and Christian fulfilment, of late, we can observe a variety of cultural realizations and happiness. We find many and varied forms of celebration in the Czech Republic, Columbia, Japan, Austria, London, Australia, Germany, New York, Finland, and many African countries. Many countries celebrate Christmas on different dates. These are like great shopping days, which go on for many days, following each country’s cultural pattern, decorating Christmas trees which go up 47 stories in Tokyo, wearing unique and colourful costumes and celebrating for days. These celebrations last nearly two months each year. Though these celebrations are not directly connected to Jesus and his birth, we can still see the people enjoying them. It is interesting to note that sometimes, during Christmas, the celebration goes without Christ! 

But the Lord may be blessing them in their happy moments! Wishing you a blessed Christmas!