Christmas, A Mirror. Mehrzad Monzavi Mehrnaz Monzavi (Ed.) January 1, 2018 On Christmas day, we can be happy from gathering together with family and friends. On Christmas day, we can decorate our Christmas tree with ornaments and put the star on top of it. On Christmas day, we can give gifts to each other in seeking of joy. We can wait for Santa to come and bring gifts to us. On Christmas day, we can consume special type of cuisine in order to celebrate this holiday. On Christmas day, we can help others in order to give them hope. Yes, we could do anything. It is important what is the concept behind our actions. It is important how we are looking at our roles as human beings, and where and to what extent we are seeking that. Besides, after finding our roles, we need to know that this is only the beginning of a long path of bringing that concept into practice. Although, we should ask ourselves If we were present in Golgotha(Skull), would Christ have become alone again? If we were one of his disciples, how we could have made sure we were not going to be Judas or Peter who betrayed and denied him? Does this question and thinking about implication in his crucifixion not frighten us? Are we not supposed to honor him by being his follower? Are we not supposed to observe and do what he did that made him special? Are we not supposed to honor him by making his pray for us to come true; [I pray that] all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. I have given them the glory that you gave me; that they may be one as we are one. I in them and you in me, so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them as you have loved me"(John 17:21, 22, 23). Now that I have celebrated several Christmases in my life, is the time to think. Thinking about all I have done in my life; have I walked toward unity with God even a bit? Have I built a relationship with God as Christ had? Were I not supposed to follow him as a role 1 model in my life? Yes, today is the time to ask myself this question; Christ had the apprehension of being a manifestation of God in flesh, have I ever had this apprehension regarding myself? He carried the cross of his life while going to the top of Golgotha in order to become crucified. He crucified on the top of Golgotha with two criminals(Luke 23:33). Christ crucified as being a follower of Good and those two criminals crucified as the crime they had committed(Luke 23:41). This tells us that regardless of who you are, regardless of whom you have been following in your life, Good or Evil, you will eventually become crucified on the cross of your life. Now, is the time for me to think of myself; to determine which one I have endorsed in my life; Good or Evil? And to ask myself for which I am carrying the cross of my life for; Good or Evil? Indeed, we should find the Christs doctrine and celebrate his birth as the manifestation of God in flesh(1 Timothy 3:16). Indeed, he percepted this mere fact by the consideration of the breath of life which has been breathed in him by God making him alive(Genesis 2:7). This awakens us to the fact that we are the manifestations of God in flesh as well. Yes, today is Christmas, today is a great opportunity for us to look at ourselves in this mirror in recognition of our real selves and have a better understanding of who Christ truly was and realize how far from being his genuine followers we are. And realize how much we believe in him as he said: "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these"(John 14:12). Indeed, Christmas is like a mirror for us to see ourselves and perceive who we literally are in compared to who he was. He glorified God in his entire life. Through this action he became glorified(John 13:31). Now I can ask myself; have I ever glorified God? or, I have been solely occupied with glorification of myself? Have I ever invoked God to glorify me?(John 8:54) Lets look at ourselves in this mirror and find a new resolution in obtaining of a rich worldview as well as applying that to our lives and keeping the doctrine of Christ pure. Shame on us if from Christmas we only have the Christmas tree, ornaments, green and red cloths, pieces of music, special types of food, Santa Claus and Christmas gifts left. Shame on us if the divine philosophy of this profound event in the history of mankind has been lost through time and the only things left from Christmas are its rituals. Today is Christmas and I remember that I have been pledging allegiance with Christ and breaking it. Allegiances for not loving God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my mind (Matthew 22:37). Allegiances for not pursuing any ways but his way. Allegiances for going toward unity and not multiplicity. Shame on me if I do not even know what his way is. Today I look at the mirror of Christmas and do not see anyone but a vow breaker. On one hand, I am breaking my vows with God ("Only ones who do the will of God will enter the kingdom of heaven"(Matthew 7:21) and on the other hand I am breaking my vows with Christ and I want to claim with taking part in Christmas rituals I have done what I was supposed to do for him and have made my conscious clear. But the question remaining is whether I have honored my allegiances, and do I deserve to call myself a follower of Christ? 2 If Christ asks us regarding keeping his doctrine pure, what we would have to say to him? If he asks us about our understanding of the divine philosophy of Christmas, what we would have to say to him? Would we tell him about our efforts for merely keeping the superficial Christmas rituals alive? Would we have anything else to say to him? Lets think about the aforementioned questions, and learn our lessons and put them in practice thus we can spiritually born again as a true follower as Christ told us: Truly, truly, I tell you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God(John 3:3). Christmas as birth of Christ, brings us the hope of comprehension of the unity with God, being in peace with God, ourselves, universe and others. Indeed, it tells us about our birth. Mehrzad Monzavi Department of Mathematics Texas A & M University College Station, Texas, 77840, U.S.A. mehrzad@math.tamu.edu Mehrnaz Monzavi (Ed.) Department of Philosophy Unicersity of Canterbury Christchurch, New Zeland. mehrnaz.monzavi@canterbury.ac.nz