Christmas!

It's the season of giving, loving and caring! It's the season of bringing in those who do not know what Christmas is all about. If you fall into this category, this piece is for you.

But first, what Christmas is NOT about:

It's not about Santa Claus and reindeers or Christmas trees and socks over the fireplace or turkey dinner and ginger breadman or jingle bells and snowman, and the list goes on.

It's not about spending time with family, although it's a good time to do so because of the holidays.

It's not about going church to sing carols, if you don't know the meanings of the songs.

There's no magic about Christmas.

What then? Christmas is not about all these things that the media has been showing us? Yea, that's right. If the word itself says anything, Christmas is about Christ -- Jesus' birth to this earth and its significance.

Personally, I have never been fascinated much by the manner of Jesus' birth besides that the angel announced it to shepherd and they came to worship Him at the manger. But on what it really means to have Christ born for us, born to die -- I feel that has more stories to tell, more real stories and more essence than a fat old man name Santa.

It's the story of stories. It's a triumphant story: the bad guy supposedly won but it was the good guy ultimately. It's a story of ultimate sacrifice: an innocent Child born of a virgin with the purpose of dying for the world. It's a story of suspense: Jesus was crucified when He was at the height of His ministry and for a moment it seemed that all hope was lost -- but no, He came back to life. It's the story of grace: unworthy sinners given pardon and redemption with the coming of the Saviour of the world.

It's a story for you and me, a story that everyone is in, and everyone is the main character. It's a story of love: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. This was what He was born to do, that anyone who believes in Him will not be eternally separated from God, but that he will be living this life to the fullest, having an intimate relationship with God, and to be with Him forever in heaven.

And so, this was what our Christmas celebration is about. Praise God, though we have little time to prepare, it was great! We had our celebration at KL International Hotel this year. It all went well: Pre-event outside the hall, song presentations, Deborah and Bong Yang shared testimonies of their life, skit performance, sharing... We had a good time, although some parts were a bit messed up. We had a large crowd with different nationalities. Our friends were supportive and happy at the end. And a friend of mine said she is now certain of the love of Christ and wants to receive Him as Saviour. Hallelujah! Seeds are sown, weeds are thrown!

Right or Easy?

Life. There's just so many definitions that you can give it, so many things to be compared to, so much that has been said to describe it, but I think there's none that truly fully covers it all.

I like the one that says it's choices that leads to various different consequences and outcomes that you won't know or see until you're there. From Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" to Tolkien's "And wither then? I cannot say" in Lord of the Rings... I like it not because it's an easily agreeable truth, but rather it is a truth that needs courage to understand and embrace. It's not a beautiful truth, but it's not a sad one either. It doesn't carry any amount of emotion unless you allow it to.

There's a quote by Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that always struck me as having deep meanings and it takes one to experience it to really understand. He said during the end-of-year banquet in the wake of Cedric Diggory's death, "Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."

We don't often hear this. It's always been said, this is right, that is wrong; do what is right, refrain from the wrong. But there is the grey area -- there's the time when you will have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy. And wither then? What outcome would it bring? Bilbo said he couldn't say, neither can I, or would know, until the choice is made.

I think it happens most when we are faced with a challenge -- it's easy to just give up, to just run away and don't care, but we know deep down in our hearts that that would mean leaving our responsibilities, perhaps even to the extent of disobeying God. When we want so much to fight back because of mistreatment from others, when we really think it's disadvantageous to us and we ought to stand up and defend ourselves -- that's when God wants us to shut up (to put it very bluntly).

Is it easy to just shut up and say "I forgive"? We know the answer. Is it easy to spread gossips and hurl hurtful words to defend ourselves? We also know the answer. But it's a CHOICE. And I think the factor that lead us to decide what to choose, ultimately, is God's LOVE. Not because we love, but He first loved us.

It takes a lifetime to learn to make the right choices, until the right choices are also easy ones. It takes a lifetime to follow the Holy Spirit.