It’s that time of the year when people start to wind down, commencing with Christmas and ending in the New Year. A time to spend with family, friends, loved ones and in this year, Omicron.
As we stare at rising cases in the UAE and elsewhere, it starts to get irritating. When will all this end?
They say a pandemic lasts 2-3 years before becoming an endemic. By that yardstick, we are nearly there. But we cannot take it for granted. We have started to let our guard down, and that is when the kick strikes – as we say in Kyokushin Karate.
Wear your masks, sanitize, and social distancing. Avoid unnecessary meetings, and follow the rules. As simple as that.
Today is also Christmas Eve. The birthday of Jesus Christ, who, like many others before him, spread the word of peace and togetherness. Its odd then that more that 2,000 years after that message, we are still fighting. The message was pretty strong, else it would not be the target religious force in the world, but then why are we still at loggerheads with each other?
Neighbours against neighbors, family against family, country against country. If we as a species could not learn from his teachings, or from the teachings of the rishis and the prophets, then where are we headed?
Its easy to celebrate a festival. In this case, a lot of cake and wine and gifts and the like. But it is tough to live by his message. That is not an easy road, and we seldom tread it. We make merry, light a candle and then continue to be ourselves the very next day.
What if we took a leaf out of his book (well he does figure prominently in the most bestselling book of all time), and lived his life for a day, rather than pretending that we follow his teachings? What if we lit a light in another soul, rather than a candle? What if we gifted the unfortunate and the needy, instead of spending more money on yet another item that we don’t really need?
Isn’t that what Christ preached?
To be a good person takes work. To be a mahatma takes much more work. Maybe we cannot aspire to be a mahaan aatma, but we sure can aim to be a good person. Let’s try and take the first step tomorrow…
Merry Christmas!