Please unsubscribe me from this list. Thank you, Nancy Pressley ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: December 24, 2001 10:34 AM Subject: [ALCOOSA] A Peaceful and Merry Xmas > A peaceful and merry Xmas Christmas Day, when Christians all over the world > celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ two millennia ago, is supposed to be both > festive and serene. > > It is festive because it marks the birth of a man who Christians believe to > be the savior of mankind. He was the long-awaited Messiah whose mission was > to liberate humanity from millennia of suffering and indignity. The day of > his birth is a day of joy for Christians, who celebrate the coming of > freedom. Christmas parties, ornately decorated Christmas trees, beautiful > clothes and so forth are merely festive expressions of the spirit of > Christmas. > > It is a serene occasion because Jesus Christ was born into a simple family > who at the time had to travel away from home. The poor family could not > afford normal lodgings. Instead, they had to spend the night in a deserted > stable. There was no crib to lay the newly born baby in, so they had to make > do with a manger that shepherds used to hold feed for their livestock. > > Religious services in churches on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day recreate > that serenity with, among other things, beautiful Christmas carols. For > Christians, the serenity of the Christmas service, as a community and family > event, imbues peace. > > For the past several years, however, the serenity of Christmas, and > consequently its aura of peace, has become a luxury that many communities and > families in Indonesia cannot afford. The Christmas joint message conveyed by > the (Catholic) Bishops' Conference of Indonesia and the (Protestant) > Community of Churches in Indonesia this year, expressed "a very deep concern > about the disturbed peace". > > On Christmas Eve last year, dozens of bombs exploded at a number of churches > nationwide, killing at least 15 churchgoing civilians and seriously injuring > 96 other innocent people. This year, Jakarta's police will deploy 14,000 > personnel to guard churches on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. > > In other places like Poso and Maluku, many people will not be able to go to > church to attend the Christmas service for the simple reason that their > churches no longer exist. For many Christian families there won't be a > Christmas gathering at home because they have been left homeless. > > And they are not alone. Many Muslim communities and families in other places > in Indonesia could not celebrate Idul Fitri properly last week. There are at > least 1.3 million Indonesians in 19 provinces who have been uprooted from > their communities and families because of ongoing violence and civil strife. > > Indeed, this kind of situation has been going on for more than three years > and Indonesians seem to be getting used to it. Violence instead of peace has > become the order of the day. Lawlessness has become something that is not > unusual, and is often aggravated by the phenomenon, "rule by law", instead of > the "rule of law". Worse, we have let things go on, damaging the very basic > tenets of human dignity. > > We may still have the facade of a festive and serene Christmas this year in > many places in Indonesia. However, if the meaning of Christmas is to > incorporate the liberation of humanity from suffering and indignity, if > Christmas is to imbue peace, then we all have to work together really hard to > promote a more humane, civil society. > > We wish you all a peaceful and merry Christmas. > _____________________________________________________ > > Kujichaguila - So that we will remember that it is we -- not other > people, places, things or events -- that shape and determine our > present and our futures. "You Must Come Home To Your Own" > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >