Just another excuse for a party

Tis the season to be jolly, Fa la la la la la la la la la…

December, the mother of all weekends is here. In a world where "work hard, party hard" seems to be the general philosophy, weekends are a rave. We leave our offices early and hurry to the nearest bars, cafes, malls and discotheques. We have worked hard the whole week (or so we like to think), now it's time to unwind. From Miller time on Friday to Sunday dinner time we sleep, eat, drink and splurge like there is no tomorrow.

Come December, and it's no different.... Take any average weekend magnify this many times (approx. 15 times), throw in a fat man in a red outfit… some holly, mistletoe, a fir tree, some trinkets, lights and voila...we have X'mas!!!

X'mas like any other festival has become an excuse. For what? To let our hair down, to have a ball. All in the name of Jesus. Which Jesus? 100s of Jesuses are being born daily in Latin American countries. Surely not those Jesuses!!! The Jesus I know is the Christ, the Savior of the world. Where is He in all the festivities? He is nowhere (at least visibly). He is working silently in the hearts of those who are reaching out to Him for grace.

X'mas is no longer only for Christians. Why else would non-christian far eastern countries start decking up the place as early as early November? Or why would my non-christian neighbour buy an X'mas tree and have it all decked up? It's time to celebrate. It doesn't matter what or why. While marketeers race to "cash in" on the season, for the average Joe, it's an invitation to start his year-end celebrations. After that it's a whole month of eat, drink, party and shop till we drop. All this culminates with one final binge on New Year's eve. Come Jan 1 and half the world wakes up with one massive hangover that lasts the whole month, not to mention new year blues. Once again we trudge through the whole year waiting for that mother-of-all-weekends at the end of the year. The cycle repeats.

Oh ya, then there are some of us who sit on our haunches the whole year and suddenly spring into action with plays/chorals/shows to "evangelize" the whole world. Hiding behind the façade of X'mas we hope "they" get the "message". Having done our bit, we then settle down to another year of contemplation and complacency.

At the core of almost all festivities lies it main ingredients: Lots of food, drink, revelry and gifts (read materialism/consumerism). Add to this small lamps, (diyas), crackers/fireworks and presto we have Diwali, the Indian festival of lights. Or add parades, colorful floats, samba music and naked ladies and it's Mardi Gras! Or paper dragons and lanterns, and we have the Chinese New Year.

What has changed? Nothing. We just need an excuse to celebrate.

Wish you a merry(hic) Christmas and a weary new year!