Probably no other season in the year holds so many contrasts than what has come to be popularly celebrated as Pre-Christmas. Rather, the term Pre-Christmas or X-Mas is somewhat of a misnomer—a crass commercialization of a religious theme. ‘Advent’ would be the correct terminology if it can be said so. Even the nature of celebrating ‘Pre-Christmas’ and ‘Advent’ is of stark contrast. Pre-Christmas events are increasingly being witnessed with heavy doses of popular culture and pomp so much so that several paradoxes can be observed, such as the spiritual facet of the season with a torrent of consumption; a period of tranquility and self-reflection with hurry and alacrity; joyful expectation and hope with stress and depression. Is this the right way to prepare for the birthday of the Lord and savior Jesus Christ? Last year ahead of assembly elections, we were witness to even our political parties in Nagaland indulging in Pre-Christmas glitz and revelry. Over the years, the level of such celebration has been scaled to epic proportions. What is of concern is that even our local churches seem to be competing with one another to make Christmas celebration a commercial success and even giving media hand outs to help popularize such events. This is hardly the stuff of Christmas season i.e. to prayerfully await the arrival of the messiah Jesus Christ.
Another worrying aspect of the Pre-Christmas or X-Mas culture is the huge amount of wastage incurred in terms of money, time and other resources during such celebrations. Even the very idea of the ‘State’ indulging in such outlandish religious rendezvous needs to be questioned. This year too the media has been bombarded with reports of grand celebrations first by the Legislators consisting of the political class later followed by the Bureaucrats led by the Chief Secretary. Another programme was held at Raj Bhavan hosted by the Governor and attended by both politicians and bureaucrats. Whether such programmes are at all necessary or whether it serves any public interest needs to be pondered upon. By avoiding such functions, the government can in fact save several lakhs of rupees, which can be then used for public welfare. It will be indeed in the fitness of things if such official progammes can be scaled down. Appropriately, one can continue with the Annual Pre-Christmas event hosted by the Governor at Raj Bhavan while doing away with the others, which is nothing but a drain on our time and resources.
Not withstanding the glitz and commotion increasingly associated with such a thing as Pre-Christmas celebrations, it is an opportunity for Nagas to actually prepare themselves spiritually for the birth of Jesus Christ. More than public clamoring, Christmas should be a time of tranquility, in which God’s message can be better heard. There are no two opinions that Christmas has today become a ritual for many people. The true Christian understanding of Advent —i.e. with renewed anticipation, of joy, of peace, goodwill among men, has very little in common with the way some people have actually come to celebrate such a thing as ‘Pre-Christmas’. If at all Naga Christians want to talk about the Prince of Peace then peace should pervade our living and peace toward others should be a hallmark of one’s character. To put it bluntly, if we’re going to be the people of the Prince of Peace, we have to stop glorifying wealth and status or factional violence and killings. And more importantly for a society divided, if we want to speak of Jesus coming to forgive us our sins, we have to learn to forgive others.
