The Christmas spirit
The Christmas spirit
As Christians throughout Indonesia prepare to celebrate
Christmas under circumstances that could at best be described as
less than ideal, millions of Indonesians, regardless of race or
creed, no doubt share their hope that the event may bring back
the spirit of peace and well-being, those two universal human
ideals that are at the heart of every Christmas celebration
throughout the world.
Though it is not for the first time that Indonesia's
Christians must celebrate the Nativity in difficult conditions --
sadly, Indonesians are no strangers to social and political
upheavals -- Christmas this year will, in many respects, be
different from any other they have known before.
When things started to go wrong at around the middle of 1997,
when the economic crisis first began to make itself felt in this
region, few of us could have imagined the grave implications that
the economic meltdown would have on this country and nation. As
the following months proved, the economic and monetary disaster
became merely the trigger that set off more upheavals, both
economic and political, the consequences of which no one could
have foreseen.
Today, as a result of those events, Indonesians, whatever
their persuasion, find themselves engulfed in poverty and
hardship. Even the well-to-do are feeling the sting of a
multidimensional crisis whose end is still nowhere in sight. An
untold number of people have lost their jobs and millions are
struggling to survive.
To add to the difficulties, rifts that have become visible in
what began as a seemingly concerted drive toward renewal are
aggravating existing social frictions that have heretofore been
buried under a cover of pseudo-prosperity. Social and religious
divisions, accepted in normal times as natural in this pluralist
nation, have become accentuated.
Such an environment of discord and want are bound more or less
to impose an unfavorable quality on this year's Christmas
celebrations. Want may temper the spirit of festivity among many
Indonesian Christian families. In some places there may be
apprehensions about whether the cherished, traditional Christmas
services can be held undisturbed and in the spirit of peace and
goodwill that are befitting to the event.
Yet, it is precisely these circumstances of trial and hardship
that could lend a special relevance to this year's Christmas
celebrations by serving to emphasize the outstanding example set
by Christ when he set out to spread the word of God among
mankind, regardless of the challenges and hostilities he faced.
Debatable as it may seem to cynics, there can hardly be a more
effective way to summon the strength that is necessary to bear
the burdens that life presents than by exercising the patience
and a forbearance that can only spring from such an unshakable
belief.
On a wider scope, by faithfully following in Christ's
footsteps as they commemorate his birth tomorrow, Indonesia's
Christians can make not only their lives easier to bear, they
could contribute substantially to rekindling the old spirit of
goodwill and tolerance for which Indonesia has long been praised
and envied.
Bringing about a climate of goodwill and well-being, of
course, is not a matter than concerns Indonesia's Christians
alone. Indonesian society as a whole, too, has a cardinal
interest in ensuring that peace and accord are restored as
rapidly as is possible so that efforts to rebuild the nation can
be made in earnest. Millions of Indonesians are waiting for
better times to dawn. May this year's Christmas bring the dawn of
such a new era.