Christmas Here, And War Over There

There is something that seems untimely about Christmas this year. We are making the usual preparations – festive lights, a decorated tree, shopping for presents, with carols that talk of joy to the world and peace to all men in the background.

On the other side of the world are two wars. People are homeless, starving, injured, without access to health services, and have lost loved ones in the recent past. Given this, our Christmas celebrations seem self-indulgent, insular and blinkered.

What should we be feeling? Guilt – that we have it so good, relatively speaking? Empathy – with those who will suffer oppression? Anger – at the injustice? Whatever we ought to be feeling, detachment and indifference is perhaps our most common response.

War is universal, as are festivals like Christmas. Somewhere in the world, people are always in conflict, and others are congregating and celebrating with others. It has always been like this and always will be.

What takes place on the grand scale is a reflection of the individual human heart. As Solzhenitsyn says, “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either - but right through every human heart - and through all human hearts.”

In this sense, conflict is inevitable. There is a part of every human heart that is selfish and greedy and will pursue these ends at the expense of others. Our task is to limit or restrain evil as much as possible – first in ourselves, then in others.

But conflict is not the only inevitability. As Ecclesiastes 3 instructs us, there is a time for war and a time for peace, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.

Christmas is the time when we celebrate God’s love for the whole world, and Jesus’ giving of himself, and it is right to receive this gift from and respond with generosity towards others.

By Rev. David Rietveld