Here in Malaysia you'll know it's Christmas season, not by the decorations that adorn the streets, nor by the Christmas songs that flood the airwaves, or the Santa clones who walk among the peoples, but then who doesnt know that the season comes around this time of year?
Thank goodness for shopping centre management around major towns and cities who loyally stick to tradition of putting up giant Christmas trees and decors, and trying to outdo each other in creativity and style and size, while some repeat the same decor as in previous season.
Of course most educated and well-informed people know Christmas isn't about decors and trees and Santas, and everyone knows shopping centres are just routinely capitalising on commercial attraction. Christmas is a spiritual experience, a dawning of new hope, a re-birth of Christ among us, a building of new kingdom of love and friendship and joy.
But still I am grateful for all the secular expression of what the world think of Christmas, cos if, for a minute, I would imagine our country would do without such giant trees and decors, or anything that would signify the coming of Christmas, I feel the season would be rather bleak indeed.
We need only to allow these external secular expression to stimulate our inner spiritual understanding of the true meaning of Christmas and we'll be alright, instead of constantly feeling threatened by it.
