It was a beautiful Christmas with lots of lovely lights. Being in India, we don’t get to see a lot of Christmas lights as we could see in predominantly Christian places, but my native district is an exception – especially the villages around my native town.
If the top picture confused you, check the picture to the side. That’s the decoration of the CSI (Church of South India) Protestant Church in the village of Marthandam, Nagercoil. Yes, it looks like those people who decorated have just gone crazily wild with spinning lights (sorry no videos/animated gifs of that).
Besides decorating the church, people had also created ginormous lighted arches in mind-boggling shapes. The crowd was so big that we weren’t able to get off our car and get closer views.
Then there was the star which weighed a whopping 1 tonne!
Yes! 1 tonne! (Time to start singing “We Three Kings” – try an A Capella like Pentatonix – I am crazy about their Christmas album!) Now I’ve no idea as to what that star was made of – although I do wish that they’d made it edible – something people can nibble off when the come to see (idea alert for future me!)
Before I really and truly forget, the name of this place is Kulasekharam.
This was the nativity set up at the Church with the heavy star – a small but a nice and peaceful nativity scene ain’t it? (What started out as a recap of my Christmas is becoming a social media picture overload, but still, what’s Christmas without all these amazing memories, and after all, a picture says a 1000 words!)
They also had a pool of sharks btw.
Whoops. Not the man-eating kind. The kind which is truly resilient and found in every fish tank here near my place – even we had huge ones which dad let go in the nearby pond as they were getting too big for our tank.
This was the nativity set at another Church – the Church at Tiruparapu – which was sadly ruined by the sudden flash rains and a runaway dog seeking shelter from the sudden downpour. On the left is the original church which they’ve rebuilt. Apparently, the guy was supposed to be fishing with water and live fishes, but the rain decided otherwise – the rain even washed away the green-coloured lawn they’d set up.
Then there was another church here (I honestly don’t remember the name of this one – although here, the nativity wasn’t the most fascinating of all.
They had other more lovely scenes depicted, apart from Christ’s birth.
The first scene is the first sin of mankind – Adam and Eve’s fall from grace due to their disobedience, and satan entering man’s life. The second picture is of Jesus being baptised by John the Baptist.
Then, one of the prime churches in my home town – Home Church.
This is not the Church of which we’re the member, but this is the Head Church – you know, where the Bishop generally sits at. Truly amazing decorations indeed.
The amount of planning which must be involved – how many people would have been involved! That’s true Christmas Spirit out there – bringing in unity amongst all people from all walks of life.
As I recount, I must give you two more locations – the Church which I am a member of, and another truly beautiful Church.
My Church (which I couldn’t find on Google Maps – CSI Christ Church in Nagercoil), and the Church at Neyyoor.
Places of worship are so amazing! On normal days they are tranquil and quiet and give us peace, and on days of celebration, the rise up and dance in joy, bringing happiness to our hearts.
This huge and magnificent Church asked me to pray there – the peace it had inside – the power it housed from God who resided there in that peace despite the loud, rowdy and raucous dance by some boys to Pitbull and Enrique (mind you, I like Enrique – I don’t really appreciate Marc Anthony’s “Let it rain” in front of Christmas, primarily ‘cos people were just sweating and jumping and nothing there was heavenly).
This is how well that Church was decorated outside.
Now, people who don’t know India may wonder as to why I am raving about these decorations and the size of the Churches. But, we are predominantly not a Christian nation, and being able to witness all this even is a miracle in itself.
This is the second time I went on such a lovely visit of the “Christmas Lights” with my dear, dear cousins and sweet uncles and aunts, and my precious parents. It most certainly won’t be the last. I truly hope that these celebrations never cease, and that my future descendants can witness even bigger miracles.
These truly are miracles – seeing people light up their places even though it probably cost them an arm and a leg – village people who somehow manage to express their joy at the birth of Christ, when we urbanistas put up just one star to show that we are Christians and Christmas is here.
Christmas is not meant to be spent at a mall, or at a party. The story of Christmas is about joy – it is joy to all families and all people, and is meant to be shared with all around us.
Laugh all you want at my choice of clothes, but you haven’t lived at all if you’ve not been able to laugh this way (at the Mathur Thotti Paalam Dam in search for some delicious pineapples – do check out the links). The middle cousin is a decade younger to me, and the cousin on the right corner is half a dozen years younger to her (if you’re weak in Math, she is 16 years younger to me btw).
Truly, none of us look as if we’ve so many years between us, as the joy of being as a family with Jesus has made us younger – His Little Children.
Matthew 18 : 3 (NIV)
And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
This year has been rocky – I’ve had the ups and the downs just as everyone. But truly, this year is special for this is the year when I’ve managed to get my feet firmly on the path which Jesus wants me to.
Hope everyone had a beautiful year 2014, and a lovely Christmas. For those who wish to relax, and perhaps enjoy your vacation (or breaks from work), check out our Church’s Children’s and Teachers’ Day programs 2014 on YouTube (Will upload more once I am free).
 Hope you all are at peace – have some cake (that’s part of my Christmas dress below)!
The Bible for Slackers 