Recall the moment of epiphany the mean Grinch experienced in the popular film How the Grinch Stole Christmas , 2000, based on the book by Dr. Seuss. The moment that makes him rethink about Christmas. ‘What if Christmas doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!’, he ponders.
Christmas means different things to different people. If for some it is a time for prayer and piety, for others it is about gifts, cakes, family, merriment and such. The commonality being that its spirit is infectious and eventually envelops one and all, even the most die-hard sceptics like Grinch and, of course, Ebenezer Scrooge. Remember Scrooge and his infamous words labelling Christmas spirit, “humbug”.
For renowned American writer Mary Allen Chase, Christmas is not a date but a state of mind. Charles M. Schulz finds its spirit in doing things for others. He says “Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.”
So what then really is the spirit of Christmas for our city folk?
Cardinal George Alencherry, archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, says that Christmas should be seen as a time to reaffirm the presence of Jesus. “He is a message and a witness. Humanity should become meaningful for each other, a husband for the wife, a parent for the child and so on.” On its celebratory aspect, he believes that sharing the joy of the event is important, except that this aspect should not overlook its spiritual reality.
For Sara Pamela John, Headmistress, The Delta Study in Fort Kochi, the spirit of Christmas is in the act of giving. Christmas evokes in her three aspects of giving—giving with joy, giving without expectation, giving to multiply. She says, “To think about someone and present him/her with the most perfect gift; to give without thinking of return; and that the act must touch others in a way to encourage them to give to others.” She believes that the act of giving has a domino effect and this act will set off a chain reaction of good deeds. That for her is the spirit of Christmas.
But Sara like Mary Allen Chase says that Christmas is not just a day, but a mindset. “When we gift something to another anytime during the year it is the same as Christmas,” she says, adding that it is an ongoing season, its spirit present at all times. “Why confine it to a day?” she questions.
Down the years in Christmas Week, Nisha Jose, has dressed as Santa Claus to regale children of a special school in Thiruvanathapuram. Behind her jolly anonymity she has been touched deeply by their love. “Playing Santa has changed me,” she says. After moving to Kottayam she missed playing this particular role. This year she revisited the school and found the children hugging her and strangely recognising her as Santa appupen . “I was thrilled beyond words,” she says. “They had never seen me without my mask so they never knew who the real Santa was but they remembered me as someone who came and spent time with them just before Christmas. To me the spirit of Christmas is—a little time for others, a little attention for others, a little love for others.”
At 90, Francis Xavier Gomez, a devout churchgoer finds the spirit of Christmas missing these days. In his times he remembers distinctly of a misunderstanding among the family members that was cast aside on Christmas. “It’s a time to bury the hatchet and mend fences. That is the spirit of Christmas.” Acclaimed playwright Nelson Fernandes’ books are inspired by the Bible. He finds Christmas to be commercialised nowadays. “People should buy peace instead of material things; for Christ is a symbol of peace.”
On the missing spirit of Christmas, Nimmi J. Chakola is clear. She feels that city folk are reclaiming Christmas from the folds of commercialisation. She speaks in terms of this Christmas as a reclaimed one.
