Christmas has come & gone - have we still got the act together.

The great occasion, Christmas, was with us once again. Since the year 335, after the death of Jesus Christ, Christians have been celebrating their master's birthday to pay homage for this super human being who arrived on earth ' to take on the sins of others' and to uphold love and charity and to show the mankind how service and sacrifice are pathways to the Kingdom of God within oneself. After nearly 2000 years, Jesus Christ's statements are still being recognised as one of the most powerful and spiritual teachings in the world.

If one were to examine Jesus Christ's birthday under the spiritual microscope, it will or, at least, it should indicate as each observer's " birth - day " - to identify one's weaknesses and to be re-born again with new resolutions of becoming a better person in the year ahead. Christ demonstrated how to be tolerant even during his traumatic moments on the cross by loving and forgiving the very people who sentenced him to death. The cause of his death was brought about by his outspoken criticism on the governing institutions during his time, particularly the ruling spiritual bodies, who were the Jewish churches. Jesus publicly condemned those who claimed to be " religious leaders" but who were not practising true spirituality or what religion meant at the time. His condemnation and criticism on corruption and hoarding of money inside the ' God's Houses' emerged as basic principles of his teaching and was intended as the foundation of true Christianity.

After nearly 2000 years, if we apply Christ's theories today, what do we see happening around the world ? The very churches which should stand as ' St. Peter's Rock' have not changed much ! These ' institutions' are hoarding wealth and their leaders have become so powerful, valuable and are ' hell-bent' on accumulating all kinds of assets, the very thing which Jesus Christ condemned ! They believe and propagate that Christianity is the only true religion and that Holy Bible (scripture) is the only 'revealed' written word of God on earth ( though some Christian sects differ on what body of scripture constitute the Bible ). The majority of Christians all over the world believe that people who follow other religions are damned to an eternity in Hell unless they renounce their false religions and pagan methods of worship. And they consider the holy books of other religions as false doctrines inspired by the devil himself ! They also believe that it is the Christ-commissioned duty of their clergy and the church leaders to preach the gospel of Christ and save the world for Jesus by converting every person to Christianity ! Jesus warned his devotees against making rash and impulsive judgements about others. " Judge not, that you be not judged. For the judgement you pronounce you will be judged and the measure you give will be the measure you get". ( St Matthew's 7 1,2). "Condemn not, you will be condemned" ( Luke 6.37).

Jesus was born an ordinary man and led a very simple life. He was a traveller and did not pay any heed to creating or hoarding wealth. His mission was to educate the masses and inculcate tolerance, forbearance, love and compassion in every heart. For, he was quite aware that " out of the heart of man come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly ! All evil things come from within and they defile man" (Mark 7:21-23) unless the heart has become pure and the mind cleansed".

There is adequate substance in Jesus Christ's messages even to the present day individual, as well as for rulers and governments, particularly in the so-called developed Christian world, where capitalism seems to rule the entire system with associated greed, as a consequence of which world is being gradually pushed towards destruction and a total catastrophe on roller coasters .

On this special day of Christmas, therefore, one is expected to reflect on the issues what Jesus Christ really wanted man to follow. It is, however, rather unfortunate that Christmas today has been transformed into an expensive occasion and each child as well as parents are equally caught up in a well conditioned commercial hype. Today children are allowed to waste both parents' money as well as their pocket moneys on tinsels which have no real meaning except for momentary pleasure , which is bound to last only a few hours or a week the most. Perhaps it is high time that the Christ's teachings are taken seriously and churches and its leaders address the current issues in the right perspective. So did we get our act together, even at Christmas to which we just bid good bye ?

Close to our hearts, in our own land, there are hundreds of our fallen heroes, either wounded, maimed and or separated from their loved ones due to a bloody terrorist war which is going on for over a decade. There are hundreds of children who have become displaced and these orphans are being cared for by various charitable organisations such as Lama Niwasas. Religious leaders, specially the Christian types, at this hour of need therefore, have a responsibility and a moral obligation and a bounden duty to follow Christ's message to the letter and to train the minds of devotees of Christ to engage themselves in the service of others and in deeds of merit in a true Christian manner, rather than letting themselves loose and allow them to blindly spend lavishly & selfishly.

Time has come for all those who are responsible to address the issue openly and publicly and to get the message loud and clear that enjoyment during Christmas is not by killing pigs, disembowelling fowl or even wasting thousands of Rupees to go to ballrooms at five five star hotels, intoxicate themselves with foreign liquor and to have a few enjoyment in a selfish manner when the country needs peoples' moral, financial and patriotic support during hard times while a war is going on.

The lead should come from the churches. In a real spiritual sense, a church does not have to represent a historic building, but in Christ's name, it could only be a congregation - anywhere and at any time.