The Meaning of Christmas

Tulisan berikut ini merupakan refleksi Natal yang saya buat pada tahun 2011 lalu. Versi bahasa Inggris ini saya kirimkan ke beberapa teman di luar negeri yang mengikuti pertemuan internasional kaum muda Eropa di Berlin, Jerman pada tanggal 28 Desember 2011 hingga 2 Januari 2012.
  
What is the meaning of Christmas?

For me the meaning of Christmas this year is about to dare to take a risk of trust. I learn this especially from Mary, the mother of Jesus. At that time, Mary is a young girl. One thing that make me amaze is that this young girl dare to take a risk to accept the gift from God: conceiving a child which is come from the Holy Spirit. Imagine, one day suddenly somebody come to you and say that you will conceiving a child which is come from the Holy Spirit. So weird isn't it? Perhaps spontaneously you will cease him out or you simply refuse because this is ridiculous and doesn't make any sense. 

In the other hand, imagine how big is the risk. At that time, a woman who have a child out of marriage will get a very heavy punishment, even a capital punishment. But Mary did it. She dare to take a risk with deep self-surrender to God. She said, "Here I am, the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word." (Luke 1:38). We can rise a question, why Mary decided to accept this "risky gift"? Do she have a good reason to do that? I wondering if we ask her this question at that time, she simply reply, "I don't know neither. All I want to do now is to keep these things in my heart and I WILL SEE..." :-) 

By the way, I discover, in fact the one who dare to take a risk of trust first is God Himself. Yes, God dare to take a risk to entrust His only Son to a young girl...to us, the human being... God dare to take a risk of being refused (it was very make sense if Mary refuse to conceiving a child), of being born in the very poor place in the world (not in luxury and comfort hospital)... even the risk of being crucified.

Nowadays, many people so fear to take "a risky decision". Our society tend to avoid the "risky decisions". The important things are security and safety. "Take decision which is the most less risky," they always suggest us. If you dare to take "a risky decision" they will say, "you are insane". But life is always risky isn't it? We only live once on this earth, so let's dare to take a risk of trust. We believe that through this "risky path", we will come to the fullness of life.    

Once again I remind myself: dare to take a risk of trust in this life... do it with a deep self-surrender to God, just like Mother Mary did.

I wish you a good meeting in Berlin.

I also wish you a Merry Christmas and happy new year. May we can welcome Christ in our life without being fear of the risky things... May Christ fill our heart with peace and joy. (rrb)