Christians around the world yesterday celebrated Christmas with prayers, family gatherings, food feasts and festivities. But behind all of the trappings of decorated trees, Santa Claus, candy canes, snowflakes and reindeers is the very real and true meaning of Christmas — one of spreading peace on Earth and goodwill to all.
For the tens of thousands who have just fled their homes in Aleppo and now face an uncertain future in Idlib or elsewhere, the message of peace rings a little hollow, though. For months, they have lived under bombardment, barrel bombs and bullets as their enclaves became smaller, their lives more tenuous and the prospect of peace ever more remote. For those who live in Yemen, where a rebel government of Al Houthis has usurped the legitimate government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, these are uncertain times, where peace is but a hope when those rebels fail to negotiate in good faith. And for the Rohingya in Myanmar, persecuted and deprived of civil rights and treated as outsiders and illegals, there is little goodwill. In the Philippines, where President Rodrigo Duterte has legitimised street executions without trial or due process, peace and goodwill too are in short supply.
Yes, Christmas might be a Christian feast, but its message is one that can apply to all. It’s also one that those who live in the predominantly Christian continent of Europe should reflect upon and embrace. At the heart of their faith lies the tenet of doing onto others as would be done onto them. The reality is the many tens of thousands of desperate and desolate Syrian refugees who sought refuge in the Europe Union were simply told, as is the case with the first Christmas story, that there was no room for them at the inn.
