Glory in meekness – the Christmas lesson

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According to Biblical teachings, some odd 2,000 years ago when Mary and Joseph were led to a manger where Mary would give birth to a son, few knew who the child was and what his purpose would be.

According to the holy scriptures, angels had appeared only to Mary, to Joseph in a dream and later to shepherds watching their flock. A star that appeared over Bethlehem gave three wise kings the notion that a great person was born.

There was no indication that others were told that a child, whom the Christian faith teaches was born to redeem mankind, had come.

Yet, in a humble manger surrounded by animals and without fanfare, the son of God found his first rest in a grassy bed of hay and straw.

It is a powerful lesson of greatness and power cloaked in humility—a lesson we cannot neglect today.

Throughout the year, we have found that all around the world, our greatness counts for nought against a horrid virus. The coronavirus has made no distinction between rich or poor, between mighty or weak. The symptoms are the same, the treatment is the same and sadly, for those who succumbed to it, the form of death is the same.

In most nations, the hospitals treating the virus are one-for-all—those higher up the societal chain lying on beds next to those deemed to be at lower echelons.

It has signalled that below the masks of wealth, class, caste, race, or authority, we are all just imperfect people with more similarities than differences, our vulnerabilities laid bare by an invisible enemy.

We are all in need of redemption.

And this is the Christmas message – that Christ came to redeem us all, regardless of our places in life, a process he linked to humility – both by the way he was born and by his teachings.

In the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 5— commonly known as ‘The Beatitudes’—he pointed to those who are blessed, and they included the poor in spirit, those that mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and those persecuted for being righteous.

It did not include those who trample on others without care, mercy, or love.

There is no better day to remember these teachings and no better time to display the values of meekness, mercy and peace than now.

Let’s value our similarities more than our differences. Let’s find ways to lift others up without fear that their elevation would take anything away from us. Let’s give from the heart and not from the cameras’ points of view.

In so doing, we remember the true meaning of Christmas Day—a day birthed in the sole aim of showing us how to inherit the redemption we all need, through humility and love.

Let us, like Christ, take lessons from his birth, sharing of ourselves without fanfare, yet bringing life and hope to all.

In this light, we wish you all a happy and joyful Christmas Day!