By George Kyprianou *:
Concerned as a citizen of the Republic of Cyprus and as a Christian Orthodox, I follow all the literature on how to celebrate Christmas in the midst of a coronavirus. I wonder about the rage of some, their obsession in general why we should be deprived of gatherings, New Year's Eve, festivals, feasts and all that. It is as if our life is ending this year and we should not miss our last chance to splurge, rejoice and have fun on the occasion of the coming holidays. As if there is no other life and hope, that life will never find its way again.
This attitude and mentality is not what is shooting our people now. For many years our language has made hair out for the "spiritual" dimension of the holidays, for the need for introversion and contemplation, for more intense mental participation and not just physical relaxation and fun. The language of the police has come out for the great danger during the holidays, due to the excessive use of alcohol, the nightclub in nightclubs or elsewhere, for the great relaxation and carelessness that prevails these days in general. Even the medical staff is tired of shouting and warning about the great innocence and gluttony of many, ending up in an emergency due to overeating and consuming a lot of "eaten" food and drinks.
So the pandemic is coming now, especially these days, and it is forcing us or indirectly pushing us into confinement and self-restraint. And instead of accepting this ordeal as a challenge for a different and alternative celebration, for another dimension of Christmas that might benefit us at the end of the day, we insist and stubbornly like children who will be deprived of their ice cream for a day, how and why and if and when we will observe the "customs" of the holidays. And not to be misunderstood, the only thing I consider necessary in all this vortex of measures is the performance of the Divine Liturgy with the presence of believers in the three great feasts of Christ, Christmas, Circumcision and Epiphany.
Let us not forget, however, that Christ alone was born, self-limited, marginalized, deprived of the necessary and essential, as a persecuted mother from the womb. Is it the opportunity to live as intensely and loudly the meaning and message of Christmas? Is it the "forced" opportunity to really see Christ himself in our own small, limited, isolated and enclosed manger of our lives? Is it time to see the celebration in its very essence, the most personal and "spiritual"? Is it time to realize, even out of necessity, that above all these days the protection of our life and the life of our own, of society as a whole, is paramount? Is it finally time for Christ?
* George Kyprianou, Theologian - Teacher, President of the Cultural Association ROMIOSYNI