Whose Birthday is it, Anyway?

At the risk of being thought of as judgmental and self-righteous, I am putting on paper my feelings and sentiments about how CHRISTmas is celebrated nowadays in this country, and most probably, everywhere in the world.

I am sad and at times, even appalled by the extreme consumerism businesses have made out of a poor Jewish Baby Boy’s birthday. Credit card companies, malls and shops are all anticipating and capitalizing on people’s eagerness to splurge during this Season on gifts for themselves, their friends, and family. It appears to me that people find CHRISTmas as the perfect excuse to indulge and get into all kinds of debts and feed their egos – that they are successful and they can afford to buy anything they want.

The overall air and mood does not reflect anything of the poor, destitute conditions the birthday Celebrator was born into two thousand years ago. Much less, His teachings on humility, love for God above all else and selflessness. Of all the TV commercials currently airing here, nothing speaks at all of the Saviour – the real Reason for the Season.

Just yesterday, I came across this newspaper article talking about how some schools here are tampering with the traditional CHRISTmas story by introducing other concepts like eating right – with characters ranging from apple pudding to cucumber. Believe me, they will present this as their CHRISTmas program instead of the Nativity story! How on earth did they arrive at the conclusion that anything could ever replace the stunningly profound message of the birth of Christ?

The author insists that the Nativity Story should be re-told year after year and that it is one that appeals to all cultures and races, anyway. I hope and wish there will be more like her.

My husband and I also had an eye-opening experience last week about how materialism pervades CHRISTmas here. We were shopping for a toy our sons waited all year long to have. Since it is our first son’s birthday in a few days’ time and that they have been very good boys, we decided to grant their hearts’ desire to have this electronic toy that should cost a month’s salary for an ordinary employee in the Philippines. To our dismay, we could not find any single item in any store we have walked into. We were getting the same answer: the item, and most of its kind are all out of stock and it is uncertain when there will be deliveries again.

It may be a relatively expensive toy but all stores have run out of stock simply because almost every parent wanted one for their kids. We reckoned that the only way to be able to have one is to wait until the Holidays are over, when the demand will go down to normal levels. Such is the effect of CHRISTmas.

Maybe I am being too harsh with my comments. However, this is definitely what I see - and it saddens me to the core. It saddens me because where I am now, I have always thought of as the bastion of Christianity – where the Lord Jesus Christ is duly upheld as Lord and King.

CHRISTmas is supposed to be about Christ – the birthday celebrator. If we are to ask Him if he is at all pleased with even just half of what man has invented to celebrate His birthday, His answer would be definitely a “No”.

He would probably point out the fact that people commit more sins while they celebrate His birthday - partying with all the booze and drugs that go around. He might also notice the excesses in the food prepared while more than half of the world is starving to death. He would feel sad – that is for sure.

He would also probably request that He be given a place in the celebrations and in the hearts of the people who call themselves CHRISTians.