“Come and behold Him!“
I must take time from the holiday scurry and scuttle to acknowledge and pay tribute to the Savior and His birth. Each year, the Christmas season brings new meaning and significance for me. And each season increasingly separates me from the festivities of the holidays while pulling me closer to the magnificence of the Savior’s birth.
Some Western societies/cultures seem to be forgetting and even attempting to erase their roots and traditions in Christianity while embracing secularism pluralism. (I’m not implying that secularism or cultural pluralism are wrong or bad. Both have their rightful places in society. ) Still, Christmas—more than ever—is my favorite time of year; not simply because of the traditional festivities, but because secularists and non-Christians are encouraged to acknowledge the authentic reason for the season: the birth of Jesus Christ.
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, I have seen and experienced many changes over the decades. One significant change has been the demographical shift from a “majority” of Mexican/Chicano/White Christian populace to a more diverse multicultural, multi-ethnic one. During the last 30 years, many people have immigrated (or have ethnic roots) from South/East Asia, the Middle East, and other predominantly non-Christian countries and cultures. Also, I have taught in higher education for the last 20 years and have observed many trends in colleges and universities here and in other Western societies which have included the general diminishing of Western civilization along with its significance, its traditions, and its Christian tradition.
Those of us who belong to America’s Baby Boomer generation (along with other older generations in Canada, Western Europe, and other “developed” countries rooted in Christianity and its traditions) have witnessed the diminishment Christianity’s influence in societal institutions, norms, and culture. I believe Christianity’s influence will continue to diminish here and in Western societies along with the continued increasing hostility toward Christianity and Christians as more people view Christian beliefs as oppressive and believers as bigots. However, from my own experience and perspective teaching at an ethnically diverse public university, I have observed that most, if not all of my students whose parents have recently (or fairly recently) immigrated from Middle Eastern countries, Southeast Asia, and India, seem to have a more positive and open-minded view of American Christian tradition and Christianity in general.
And I cannot express how much I appreciate their open minds and open hearts. They have set a wonderful example for me.
I don’t think God intended for the United States and greater North America to represent one or two majority ethnicities or races. I believe we are witnessing divine intervention in the fulfilling of Biblical prophecies that peoples from all nations and cultures would “come to Zion.” I also believe that a significant reason for increased numbers of immigration to the United States, Western Europe, and Canada (the scriptures call it “a gathering”) serves to give new coming peoples greater exposure, knowledge, and experience pertaining to the teaching of Jesus Christ, and especially (particularly in the United States) to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Furthermore, I believe this divine plan is part of the foundational work in fulfilling scriptural prophesy regarding the building of the New Jerusalem in Independence, Missouri. Latter-day Saint doctrine includes Moroni’s visitation to Joseph Smith in which Moroni quoted Isaiah’s prophesy in the 11th chapter of Isaiah pertaining to the house of Israel and its return:
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth (Isaiah 11: 11-12).
Surely, we live in exciting times! But what, dear readers, does this have to do with Christmas? Interestingly, many of my non-Christian friends (and I would assume other non-Christians) desire to take part in the secular Christmas festivities in the form of gift giving, Christmas trees, lights, music, etc. And in their secular celebrating, I would imagine that some, or maybe many, recently immigrated non-Christians have developed (or are developing) a rudimentary knowledge of the baby Jesus—and perhaps connecting Jesus’ birth to Christianity’s belief that Jesus is the Christ, and that the baby Jesus grows up to become the Savior of the world.
When pondering this idea, I feel great joy.
Let me more fully illustrate this idea: Before our children left home, one of our Christmas family traditions was a drive to downtown San Jose where we enjoyed the annual “Christmas in the Park.” Each year, we roamed through the park basking in the Christmas lights, the music, the Christmas displays of Santa, the elves, the carolers, the numerous and varied Christmas trees, and the large Christmas creche featuring Joseph, Mary, and the Christ child.
One year, while standing in front of the manger scene and gazing upon the baby Jesus, I noticed that everyone standing there with me was of Asian and Middle Eastern descent. In that moment, I felt a specific spiritual impression: These wonderful people were celebrating and perhaps learning (at the most basic level) about the Christ child and His connection to the Christmas season. A sense of peace, joy, and unity filled my heart. In this particular circumstance, a potential belief or conversion to Christianity was not the issue; it was their observation and even their actual participation in celebrating the Savior’s birth that contributed to the unique specialness of the whole experience.
I’ll share another example: One year, we invited our ward LDS missionaries over for dinner. They talked about a Hindu investigator who had embraced the idea of a personal Savior whose name was Jesus Christ. The man was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joyfully, he exclaimed to the missionaries, “I can’t wait to go back to India and tell my family and friends about Jesus Christ and His church!” Again, I marveled at God and in this particular divine design pertaining to immigration and globalization in helping to gather all peoples from “all four corners of the earth” for purposes of seeding and growing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Still, the increasing secularization of Christmas is painful for me. I miss hearing Christmas carols while doing my Christmas shopping. I miss the public creche displays in shopping malls and public parks. (Ironically, a few years ago, the San Jose city council voted to take the creche out of “Christmas in the Park” and thus placed it on the steps of a nearby church. After many citizens complained, the council put the creche display back in.) I also miss the many large, beautiful Christmas trees that in years past had been displayed in shopping malls, business offices, store windows, parks, and city streets. I miss hearing the cheery “Merry Christmas” from store clerks, fellow shoppers, and co-workers. Surely, I understand the oppressiveness many non-Christians felt and feel during the Christmas season, but I don’t feel guilty about missing the many wonderful and public Christmas traditions. On the upside, consumer demand at Christmastime gives me some assurance that Christmas will never be completely and publicly erased from our society.
And because Christ is so much harder to find in present-day society’s version of Christmas, I search all the more diligently for the Savior. And when I find Him, I value and treasure Him all the more. “Oh come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,” is my Christmastime proverb.
Because of Him, I feel joyful. Because of Him, I feel triumphant. Because of Him, I love this season. And because of God’s grace and His magnificent plant, our Savior is the greatest gift to us all. He is the Prince of Peace. He is the Prince of my inner peace.
Merry Christmas,
Julie