Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Lord Jesus Christ, the highest embodiment of divinity in human form, the son of God who came to earth to redeem people from evils , sufferings and pain and bestow upon them peace, joy and happiness . It is said that an unusual star of ex-ordinary brilliance rose up in the sky in the wee hours when Jesus was born in a small hamlet called Bathleham, with heavenly spirit Gabriel appearing in the sky announcing birth of’ a divine child’, who would provide panacea for all the existing evils or who would prove to be ‘messiah (Christ) or anointed or savior of mankind .

He was gift of God to humanity. People give gifts to children and poor people on the occasion of Christmas for different reasons. It is to remember the true gift - Jesus , the gift of God to humanity .Gifts also remind us of the gifts such as Gold,Frankiscence and Myrrh which Wiseman from East brought to Jesus at the time of his birth . Gifts are also given to show love to family members and others .There is also a story of Santa Claus, an old Samaritan giving gifts to children. This development took place much after the period Jesus lived. In fact St Nicholas, in the form of Santa Clause gave gifts to the poor.

 The practice of installing Christmas tree and the conception of Jesus carrying lamb on his shoulders show that Jesus loved trees and animals ( nature), infarct all the creations of God in the entire cosmos . . We can see God only through his creations. During Christmas celebration, there is practice of preparing a Crib , reconstructing the scene of a stable/ cattle shed, where mother Mary gave birth to infant Jesus . An enclosure is made with wood. Stacks of hey are spread on the floor to serve as bed. Statues of figurines like Joseph, Mary, shepherds , who came rushing in, hearing the announcement of a divine child, and three wise men who came from East with gifts to welcome the holy spirit, descending to earth and a holy spirit staying atop announcing the birth of the holy child and herd of sheep , which naturally finds a place in the stable.

It is believed that it is saint Francis Assisi who introduced this practice much later than the period of life of Jesus .It is also believed that the purpose of display of Crib is to make people remember the noble purpose of his birth to uplift the down trodden, and his humble life, lest it can happen that people in the heat of indulging in merry making , may forget the central theme viz Jesus Christ Francis Assisi believed that even birds and beasts joined in the celebration of the birth of a celestial son, who came to reform the humanity. It also reminds us about our duty to serve selflessly the sick and suffering and do whatever is possible for the upliftment of people who are ailing from poverty, superstition and other social evils and lift them from sub-human existence to the level of human existence, where it is possible to experience divinity.

 There was immorality, unrighteousness, adultery and slavery prevailed in the society. Poor and weak were exploited by rich and powerful .Morality was at its low ebb. There was poverty, sickness and suffering all around. It was at that time Jesus was born to establish moral order and spiritual awakening in the society and to provide succor to the sick and the suffering , similar to incarnation of Lord Krishna for establishing ‘dharma’ or righteousness. (Dharma punastapanarthe –quoted in the wholly Hindu scripture Bagavad Gita). Lord Krishna was born in prison. In other words, both came to earth under trying circumstances, showing to the world that one has to put up with all hardships or one has to make self-sacrifice, if one were to serve the needy. Since, Jesus was divine in nature; he could have taken birth in a palace and could have lead a life of opulence. But infant Jesus chose to be born in the stable and spend his life as shepherd. This is because; Jesus came to serve the humanity rather than being served. Though he was all powerful, he never bragged his prowess. He chose to be humblest of the humble. He came in humility and in poverty to identify with poorest of the poor, who in spite of their poverty lead a life of contentment and honesty.

 His birth as a shepherd has much significance. The care Shepherds show in taking care of their sheep is unparallel. If a lamb strays out of the herd, he leaves all other sheep and searches for the missing one. similarly God goes all out to sick and suffering , leaving others who are favorably disposed. The shepherd also carries on his shoulders any little lamb that cannot walk or any lamb which has become infirm.

 There is a parallel here to Lord Krishna , the supreme Hindu deity who gave a royal treatment to his bosom friend Sudhama by name who being extremely poor got himself called Kuchela , who in spite of his extreme poverty never strayed from the path of virtues .Krishna made him extremely rich without his asking for it . Sudhama did not pray Lord Krishna for wealth, on the other hand prayed for mental strength and courage to put up with hard life .we should not ask God to bestow on us riches or other petty material gains , on the other hand should pray for giving strength to put in hard labor to win whatever we want There is a proverb: ‘God helps those ,who help themselves.

 Joseph, Mary and infant Jesus underwent extreme hardships which they faced  courageously .The message is that one who is a true follower of Religion should

face ups and downs of life with moral courage. Lord Jesus Christ like any other

maha purushas or great men like Lord Krishna, Prophet Mohammad or  Goutham Buddha fought relentlessly against evils of society and promoted truth, love, justice, compassion and. service to the needy and other human values in the people .Powerful people who felt their vested interests thwarted by moral teachings of Jesus took offence and tried to kill him by nailing him on the wooden cross Even. While the assassins nailing his body on to the wooden cross and bleeding profusely, Jesus told not to punish those who took him to cross. He told them that they did not know what they were doing. Here there is a powerful message for all of us to follow. We should never harm anyone, knowingly or unknowingly, even more than that, we should not return harm to those who harmed us. We should forgive them, thinking that they harmed us out of their sheer ignorance .This is the depth of compassion, one should practice .We know Gandhiji too told before he breathed his last facing assassin’s bullet that his assasin should be left free .This is the depth of compassion , great souls have towards others .This is utmost self-sacrifice. Even

Good should be done to one who harms . It is pure love. There is a touching story that a mother told his son, turned into a vagabond due to bad company, who snatched her gold chain in darkness and running away that he should be careful, lest he might fall and injure himself .In other words, even when his son committed most dastardly crime and she was experiencing pain , she was concerned only with his wellbeing .we should be able to react similarly, even when the offender is no way related to us . This calls for strength of mind and universal and unconditional love .It is said that Prophet Mohammad was  prepared to sacrifice his own son for God showing his selfless love and deep faith in God and that God ensured no harm to his son .These are examples of pure love and compassion .We ordinary mortals get offended if someone simply disagrees with us and may even inflict injury on him .Similarly, we hate people whom we do not like .we tarnish the image of a innocent person against whom we feel jealous, because he has something which we lack . Because of our ‘ego we’ feel that humility is our weakness and that we should be assertive, assuming, rude and arrogant, which we may falsely consider as sign of manliness rather than politeness, courtesy, accommodation and caring attitude

Jesus resurrected from his grave three days after crucification, which shows that God is imperishable and most powerful There is a hidden message in this incident .God stands for perfection in virtues and virtues cannot be destroyed by vices. They are permanent .We have a tendency towards sinful behavior, due to our passions and raw instincts .The meaning of sin as proclaimed by Jesus is our sense of selfishness that generates desire in us to promote our own personal happiness, in the process we may be causing suffering to others. Jesus Christ spoke of many moral qualities which we should imbibe. He told we

should be content with whatever food we get, should adjust to any climate, and society, and any neglect and solitude. We should never care to refer ourselves in conversation, speak of our good work nor should we itch for commendation of our acts .We should be truly to be unknown. We should feel happy to see our fellow human beings prosper and should honestly enjoy with them or share their happiness and feel no envy, even when we are in a desperate situation.

We should be amenable to correction and reproof from one of lower stature and we should humbly submit inwardly and outwardly, finding no rebellion or resentment raising up within our heart .The attributes of a true Christian called as ‘fruits of spirit ‘ according to Jesus are love, peace, forbearance or long suffering, goodness , gentlemanliness ,service and temperance . According to Jesus, God is love. Who so ever lives in love, lives in God and God is in him.

Jesus who lead a sinless life loved people so much that he died on account of their misdeeds to salvage them from their unworthy life , taking upon himself the punishment for their sins . In other words, his sacrifice in the cross for the sins of others is the ultimate act of love. Jesus advises that when people ignore or neglect us or purposefully harm us we should not feel hurt , on the contrary we should remain calm mentally, being counted worthy to suffer. Similarly, we should not let our anger to show up , when someone speaks ill of us, when our character is vilified, when our wishes are crossed, when our opinions are rebutted, on the other hand we should take such situations coolly. We should see everyone as our brothers and sisters and should be honestly be able to rejoice with them in their happiness and do not feel envy , when our needs are far greater and when we are in desperate circumstance .We should allow ourselves corrected for our mistakes even by those who have humble origin.

We should submit fully feeling no rebellion or resentment. There is a saying in the Bible ‘love your neighbor as thyself’. This saying is more relevant today than ever before .In the fast modern life , no one has time to show concern to even those who are close to them .We find parents spend very little time with their children with the result they hardly develop into a healthy and socially responsible youths We find children whom their parents brought them up making all personal sacrifices neglect them in their old age We find no harmony in relationships among people .We have every other things of material comforts today , except love towards each other . It is as though our hearts, which are supposed to be the source of all these tender feelings, have gone dry.

 Jesus was born, lived and died for love for others .We should relay on the love of the Almighty, who loves all in spite of our mistakes and wrong actions, just like a mother loves his children , in spite of the wrongs done by them . God forgives us for wrong doings, if we realize and repent and don’t not repeat them. Similarly we should forgive others even for gravest of mistakes, if the person committed mistake realizes his mistakes and seeks atonement. There is biblical story attesting this fact.

While people were going to punish a lady who was said to have committed adultery, by stoning her to death, Jesus told them that if there was any one, who had not committed any sin, could stone her to  death. Immediately, all those who had picked up the stones dropped them. This shows the greatness of remaining pure in heart and act of forgiving. if we do wrong deeds , they return to us causing harm to us . There is a proverb ‘what we so. so we reap .Our greatest goal should be to do all things in love. Love is patience, love is kind, It does not evoke envy , nor does it boast, nor it is proud,  nor it is rude , nor it is self-seeking. It keeps no records of wrongs. It does not delight in evil, but rejoices in truth. It always protects. It never fails. There is trust and hope behind love .Love is patient and kind, not jealous, boastful, and not proud. It is never glad with injustice. Love never gives up, always hopeful and endures through every circumstances

We are trapped by the speed and inducements of modern life that we lead a mechanical life and hardly realize worth of human life. Jesus Christ led a very simple and functional life. His life itself is teaching. The lesson we have to learn is that we too should lead a life of simple and chaste living, living for others rather than living for oneself. We should be contented with what we have, rather than going after never ending desires. Not only lying, adultery, theft, and murder are sins biblically, but worshipping false ideals such as seeking power, wealth, name, fame, and pomp are also sins of equal gravity. There is no wealth more satisfying than contentment. All religions teach us to cultivate values and virtues of life in our daily life .All religions tell us that we should not run amuck for sense pleasures. In other words, they regulate physical indulgence. In addition, religious faith gives a good feeling that there is some superior power to take care of us, which makes us hopeful and enthusiastic in life.

 Apart from celebrating Christmas with pomp and mirth. It should reflect the pious and humble way Jesus was born, lived, served the sick and the suffering, and died for the sake of masses. In other words it is a solemn occasion when we should fast , (which is a way to control our sense organs and develop sense of moderation or self-discipline- and also to know other’s suffering), go to the Church and sing carols praising him and visualizing the messages of Jesus Christ (be in prayful mood which is free from the distractions of our mundane world), and exchanging simple gifts among members of the family , friends and those who are sick and suffering . We should practice the precious human values

like love, compassion, service to the needy etc , not only on the Christmas day, but should continue to practice them throughout our life. . Christmas day celebrations could be taken as a year to year remainder to us to practice virtues in our lives. It could be a simple and wonderful remainder of God’s gift to humanity - the birth of Jesus Christ for the redemption of ailing humanity. True spirit of celebration of Christmas is by following teachings of Jesus Christ which are in the form of spiritual /ethical/human values in our day to day life.

Different religions are different paths to the same destination, discovery and experience of divinity, which is the very core of our existence. They may have different rituals or symbols. But the hidden meaning of all those outside practices is the same .All religions teach us to cultivate values and virtues of life in our daily life and to sacrifice our enemies like anger, hatred , envy and so on and that we should not run amuck for sensual pleasures. If we have excessive passion for indulging in the pleasures of flesh , we throw away all moral and ethics and dharma that is what is right and what is wrong in the air

and take to any means just or unjust, violence, cheating, hood winking etc to fulfill our desires . All these destructive qualities lead us to chaos, destruction and death. A true religious person practices virtues like honesty, love, selfless service, compassion, peace and so on.