0 Christmas, a reflection of joy and creativity

Christmas brings good tidings, an electric atmosphere and a good reason to feast not only for Christians, but also anyone who believes that God’s grace is universal and embraces all beings. Bali is a good example of that open-hearted spirit. The Balinese joyously embrace Christmas as another hard-to-miss chance to spend valuable time with their families and organize a little party with friends or visiting Christian relatives — many Hindu families here have close relatives who are Christians or Muslims. 

Fortunately, the Hindu Parisadha has never issued any religious edict forbidding Hindus from extending Christmas greetings to their Christian friends, or partaking in Christmas celebrations. Even if it were to do so, the B a l i n e s e Hindus would likely ignore the edict the way a huge number of Muslims have ignored the edict issued by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) of clerics. However, Christmas in Bali is more than just a religious festivity. It is also a celebration of creativity. 

Look at the way local artisans crafted a Christmas tree from painting in the Kamasan-style, a famed style of traditional Balinese paintings named after a village in Klungkung populated by the descendants of the court painters and architects of the 16th century Gelgel kingdom. Kamasan paintings mostly narrate stories from the great Hindu epics Mahabharata and Ramayana, as well as from Balinese Hindu mythologies. Upon seeing a beautiful Christmas tree made of those paintings stood in the interior of the iconic Batu Jimbar café in Sanur, 

I could not help but b e l i e v e that it was a poignant, albeit accidental, symbol of the shared traits between Hinduism and Christianity, and all the other belief systems for that matter. That tree was a reminder that religions are supposed to bring good tidings, happiness, togetherness, love and a chance to connect with the higher being in order to comprehend our purpose in life, our humanity. 

The fact that up until now religions have been used to divide instead of to unite, to hate instead of to love, to resent instead of to cherish, to look down instead of lift up, should be considered as a wakeup call to how far apart we are still from our humanity. This Christmas is a perfect time to celebrate and to be joyful with all our friends, Christians and non- Christians. Merry Christmas, everybody.

source : bali daily