If only we could stick to the true message!

CHRISTIANS all over the world are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

On a larger scale, people of all faiths recalled the birth and sacrifices of Christ as well as the values he espoused. Like other prophets of old, Jesus upheld the unity of men in a universe created to perfection by the Almighty. And like those prophets, he suffered for his belief and yet never wavered in his unshakeable faith in the ability of men and women to rise above self and dedicate themselves to the service of humanity.

Christmas this year has come at a time when much of the world happens to be going through some rather hard economic realities. The credit crunch has led to people buying less simply because they cannot afford to spend as much as they used to. Christmas and New Year sales this year have been poor and the celebrations have been quite muted in comparison to previous years. There is thus a need for a renewal of hope, in the ability of nations and governments to tide over the crisis in order for global economic stability to return.

In today's world, nothing suits us better - and that irrespective of our various faiths - than to turn around and return to the sense of ethics that Creation has been all about. Jesus Christ upheld the brotherhood of men. He knew, as the poet Archibald MacLeish once put it so succinctly, that we were brothers on the earth together, brothers who know they are truly brothers.

Merry Christmas to one and all.