The virtues of Christmas

At this time of the year, let’s make an effort to share our festive pleasures with those less fortunate than us

BY NOEL G DE SOUZA

As the Christmas season approaches, many people the world over focus on peace and goodwill, even though these virtues have become rare in today’s world. Nevertheless, there are those who are striving to promote peace and goodwill, both on the world stage as well as at the local level. Peace and goodwill are best promoted through the three virtues associated with Christmas which are faith, hope and charity.

Faith is an internal human trait which needs to be nurtured and cultivated. In the modern world, faith in one’s own self is being inculcated by educators and psychologists, albeit at a secular level. For example, sportspeople are trained both physically and psychologically to compete by having faith in themselves. Faith in a Benevolent Presence, who looks after the affairs of humankind, has been traditionally promoted by religious groups, particularly to those who are in desperate need.

The Apostle Paul in Letters to the Corinthians, while calling for the belief in the virtues of faith, hope and charity, extolled the supremacy of charity: “And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.” These three virtues, the basic pillars of human ethics, are found in all the world’s religions and are the basis of humanitarian values.

Significantly, in Buddhism, the act of charity (dana in Pali and Sanskrit) is also considered as the first of the great perfections (paramitas) which a Buddhist seeker on the path (marga) of enlightenment has to achieve.

In materialistic societies in which many of us now live, Christmas, to our chagrin, has become a time of suffering.