Christmas in Nepal: Can Santa Claus appear with the gifts?

 

 "Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, jingle all the way," We often hear the song in Kathmandu and Pokhara and other metro cities these days, associating with the advent of Christmas. Many of us are not even aware that the song had nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ when its author, James Lord Pierpont, composed it to commemorate the town's annual sleigh's race competition during thanksgiving in the USA. One can wonder how the western civilization was swifter to bring Christmas into the hearts and minds of Nepali Christians. So much so that Nepalese Christianity has gripped to it at the expense of Nepali culture and traditions.

Christianity in Nepal has been traced from the early 17^th century as Portuguese father Juan Cabral came to Kathmandu and got permission to work in the country from the king then. Their mission flourished until king Prithvi Narayan Shah (1744 – 1769) fell suspicious towards the Capuchinians' fathers, who might threaten his great unification movement. He then exiled all the members of the Christians on February 4, 1769. The group found their way to Bettiah, India, and settled there for decades. After that, the Christian movement became silent in Nepal until the democracy was installed in 1951, demolishing 104 years of Rana Tyranny (1846–1951). Then, the new avenue of the handful of Christians at the Indian border found their way to Nepal and started to get involved in the health and educational services, assisting the poor and marginalized. This is also traced as the entry mark of protestant Christianity in Nepal.

Over the seven decades of protestant missions in Nepal, Christianity flourished from the east to the West and villages to the corners in Nepal. People who were vulnerable, marginalized, and tired of social discrimination found easy access to the Christian message of hope and peace. However, things have seemingly drifted gradually, and it is time for the Christian community to look at themselves and see if anything needs to be corrected. One of the things that often needs to think is that Nepali Christians are inclined to western sentiments. What I meant by 'incline' are the culture and worldviews that do not necessarily help Nepalis understand the crux of the biblical truth. The Bible does speak to us from our context and languages. Jesus' path has been very simple and straightforward, addressing our situations. He never dreamt of being a charismatic figure, and sometimes we often see the church leaders who present themselves to seek attention. The sermon of the mountain stands as one of the great teachings of Jesus Christ, and many great leaders in the world comprehended its values despite their religions. Jesus being Jews, did not even advocate Judaism, so did Christianity as nowhere in the Bible is he asking us to become religiously dogmatist. Nevertheless, he has undoubtedly advocated for the Truth as John 8:32 says, "…you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." However, it is sad for the Nepali Christian community, who often preach much of the Christian religion than Jesus's truth in the community and then present the western packages that have neither been a help to the West nor us in general. Much of the Christian community has very much oriented with religious views of Christianity. What sort of Christianity did we prescribe to the nations? The question remains as one of the crucial questions to the community and Nepali Christians. We played much on the gap and entertained to maintain the distance. There is a question in the biblical vocabulary used and practiced in the church. The word such biswasi ( the one who believes in Christ) creates a dichotomy in the inclusive community. The word Saitan (Devil) is sometimes confusing whether it is referred to the person or the spirit, creating ambiguity in the community. What makes a Christian Christian remains another challenge to Nepali Christianity. Even if a person starts attending the church on Saturday, participating in the church offering, following the fasting ( Oopwaas – exclusively used in Christians for Barta), keeping the Bible with them (even one does not read) does not guaranty that he/she is a Christian unless he/she lives like Christ-like character.

Many of us even do not know if St. Nicholas would want to become the modern Santa Claus if he ever had been alive now. Don't we think that we are hurting the children telling the stories of Santa that he would appear with the gifts? Biblical narratives have got no records of the Christmas and Christmas trees. The churches need to work on their hermeneutics and find a way of clearing all the confusing layers still existing in the church. It has all evolved through different civilizations, and most of it has got its traditional roots having no link to Jesus Christ. However, It is a bit of a surprise that the same jingle bells and Santa has come to our context, so much so that Nepali mass including the Christians, have no ideas where these traditions will take them from here.