In India, the Christmas season falls in winter. It’s cold and it can freeze and snow basically in the Himalayan region in India. Yet, winter is dearly loved by people because, they connect Christmas to it and make it a joyful season. This connection transfers the potentially bleakest season into a period of joyful celebration. The landscape of the serene beauty of the winter season creates a canvas of tranquility that heightens the Christmas spirit.
Along with this spirit, in our land, Christmas is accompanied by a vibrant, nature- inspired folk dance called “Bagurumba” which is traditionally performed by the Bodo women in colorful traditional attire. “Bagurumba” means “butterfly”. Thus it’s a butterfly dance, a symbolic of harmony with nature. The theme is parallel to the Christmas message of peace on earth and harmony to the natural world. The symphony of festive sounds and the resilience of nature amplify the joyful sounds of Christmas , the heavenly sound of music like, silent night, holy night…. The spirit of Christmas truly comes to life through shared experiences and fellowship with family, friends and loved ones. The spirit of give and take relationship, togetherness brings a unique warmth of Christmas even in the coldest winter with a beacon of hope.
BUT WHAT IS CHRISTMAS?
Though the Christmas season is marked by festivities, traditions, along with a spirit of joy and goodwill, at the core of the heart, it’s the love of God manifesting beyond its religious and traditional roots. Christmas is truly a time for spreading love, kindness, goodwill and hope.
God’s people have said about the spreading of God’s love everywhere in the globe “Spread the love of God everywhere you go—because, people need it now more than ever.” J. Darryn Zewalk “Spread the love of God through your life.” Mother Teresa “Spread the love of God, because the world is already full of pain and suffering.” Anonymous “God’s love is like an ocean; you can see it’s beginning, but not it’s end.” Anonymous These quotes are like pain balms or ointment that heal our pains and woundsvery relevant today in the wake of warfare and calamities across the world. God’s love is always divine and sacrificial that saves a dying soul and gives a life eternal.
God’s wonderful love to mankind can be explored through the rich tapestry of metaphors or similes drawing from nature and explain the sublime spiritual concepts. The spreading of the love of God is liken to the colors spread all across the sky like in a rainbow or during sunrise or sunset. The meaning however is that there is action in love. God historically loved us and sent His only Son so that we can inherit the eternal life through him, our Lord, Jesus Christ.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”- John 3:16 Love is always vibrant , expansive, and reaches everyone bringing hope and renewal. God wants that everyone in this world should be reached out with love to inherit the eternal life. And this is the reason why Christ had commissioned his disciples to go to the whole world and preach the gospel of love to all mankind (Matthew 28:19).
Dr Sahil Naik in his article, “Covid-19 spreads like Nuclear Chain Reaction….”, established the fact that the dreaded bug of Pandemic Covid- 19 follows the Super Spreading Chain of Transmission from one person to another like a Nuclear fission chain reaction and reaches every nook and corner of this planet. According to him a single patient or career spreads this virus at least to three persons and subsequently these three persons to next nine persons and thus goes on. And we know how the Covid-19 covered the whole GLOBE within the span of few months crushing humanity to death. Interestingly, this chain of Covid-19 model is one hundred percent (100%) applicable to the Church today in spreading the love of God through the process of Disciple Making Continuum. But disciple making grows out of love and compassion for one another.
“Behold, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1John4:7-10 (ESV) And this is real Christmas and the real message of Christmas.
The Pandemic Covid-19 took only a couple of months to spread the pandemic disease to every nook and corner of this globe. But how long will it take for us to spread the love of God to all mankind? Let us begin this invaluable task this CHRISTMAS ! SPREAD THE LOVE OF GOD LIKEANYTHING.