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I received a
Christmas greeting few days ago from a friend who celebrates Christmas on
January 7th. I am sure it was
intended to be received as a blessing of Christ who came to earth to extend the
message of reconciliation and peace with God to all mankind - regardless of our religion, the calendar we adhere
to, culture and tradition.
But I couldn’t
help but notice a subtle partition… a slight note of separation…
To you, the Gregorians… … from us, the Julians.
Gregorians?!!! Julians?!!! I had no idea I was considered a Gregorian until I received the card.
I stare at the
words and marvel.
Here we are,
celebrating the birth of the Savior of the world but can't help but point out how divided we
are within His own family. And neither date is His actual
birthday!
The calendar
adjustment that took place within the Christian church in the 16th century
was always an occasion for double celebration in our mixed (or maybe mixed-up!) family. We get to celebrate
two Christmases and two New Years. It’s
the best of both worlds! It’s like a re-run of your favorite TV show without all
the stress of not knowing what’s going to happen in the end. It’s like truly savoring a delicious meal the
day after all the craziness and exhaustion of
four-burners-and-the-oven-all-on preparations is behind you and now you can
actually sit down, take a deep breath and fully enjoy each bite.
The diversity of
the body of Christ doesn’t have to be divisive.
In fact, the diversity is intended to be enjoyed and celebrated as a
gift of multifaceted grace and generosity of our God who came to us all…
Gregorians and Julians, Hindus and Muslims, Jews and Atheists, Gay and Straight.
Republicans and Democrats.
He knew we all were
completely powerless on our own.
Christmas - the coming of Christ to earth was God’s decisive verdict on the futility of all our human effort to save ourselves. What we couldn’t do for ourselves – with our hard work, with our religion, with our self-improvement and resolutions, our knowledge and expertise - He did.
Once for all.
On the Cross.
And started a new – eternal – calendar.
Beginning with today.
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