Glória in excélsis Deo

When I first set foot on Lao PDR last week, what surprised me was there were a lot of Christmas trees. You can see them in hotel lobbies, in stores, and even in advertisements outside. Quite strange for a Marxist-Leninist single-party country which is deeply rooted in the Hindu and Buddhist beliefs for thousands of years. When I asked someone why this is so, he said there are many tourists this time of the year, and it's good for business. To a certain extent, this is how Christmas has become in many parts of the world, including our own.

I am writing this article in the lobby of a hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and there is this huge glittering Christmas Tree in the center of the lobby, complete with all the trimmings - blinking lights, decors, gifts underneath, a couple of funny Santa Clauses which looked more like snowmen garbed in Santa's robes. And this is a kingdom which dates back to the 3rd century, 95 percent of the population of which are Theravada Buddhists. I guess the two million tourists going into this city of 200,000, yearly makes the difference.

Two days ago, we were travelling across the Lao countryside to visit the famous Khone Phapheng waterfalls, which is a part of the Mekong River and which made it not fully navigable. The drive was uneventful but quite interesting if one wishes to study ordinary life in a country 80 percent the area of the Philippines but which only has a population 6.5 percent of ours. The pastoral backdrop of the quaint villages we passed would suggest what it must have been like during that very night past which we now celebrate as Christmas Eve.

Except for the urban cities, most of Lao PDR is provincial and rural, like most of the countries in Southeast Asia, Singapore excluded. You see people tending farm and children roaming in the fields, some schoolchildren playing sepak takraw in makeshift hardened earth courts. And it's cool in Laos this time of the year, 13 degrees at night. We can imagine how it must be for those shepherds in Israel 2,000 years ago, staying out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks at night. There were no neon lights then, nor any other kind, just the twinkling of the stars on a cold winter night; just one of those nights like any other, for years before.

The Scriptures tell us the story: "And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened." Who wouldn't be? We try to recreate the scene and I couldn't imagine how I would have reacted if I were in their shoes (though they probably didn't have any). Run? Shout? Cringe in fear? But the angel told them the greatest news of all time: "I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." I would like to believe the scene would have been unbelievably bright!

That was one angel. "And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." You would be terrified a hundred times. When the Bible says "a multitude of heavenly hosts," it means an army of angels, in the military sense! Fully armed, I presume, ready for battle and shouting, "Glory to God in the Highest!" They were proclaiming the very essence of Christmas. They were heralding the final victory and God's ultimate gift. "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Hundreds of years after, the Latin phrase "Glória in excélsis Deo" became very popular, even to this day. And we compose songs and hymns to eternalize the meaning, but which are sometimes lost in the cacophony of other holiday music which has nothing to do with the original message of the angels. For the message of the multitude of hosts to ascribe praises to the Lord God and to proclaim his incarnation, that God became Man and lived amongst us. To join the heraldic proclamation would the best we can give back to Him who is the source of all things and to whom we were created in accordance with His image.

Glittering lights and gifts, trees, and carols come every year, but the message of Hope was already proclaimed 2,000 years ago. Be joyful and accepting of the message, my friends, and proclaim it to others, too - Glory be to God in the Highest! Merry Christmas.