Christmas restores confidence in human beings

It seems that 2016 was a terrible year. Terrorist attacks, wars, and the deaths of our last remaining celebrities before December 31. What’s the point of celebrating? In the church in Bagnes, through a nativity scene—just as the bishop did in his midnight sermon—we do well to remember the birth of this child, amid poverty, flight, and the cold. Perhaps this somber image of the Nativity is meant to «put the church back at the center of the village,» to make an abrupt break with the saccharine image of a Christmas filled with little reindeer and candy canes—a Christmas fantasized by American movies. Christmas is a solstice; it is the rebirth of the sun; it is the birth of a child—and like any birth, this one takes place amid pain.

A controversial psychologist from Valais recently argued that it is not pain itself that confers dignity, but the way in which one overcomes it. Perhaps that is the true message of Christmas. Does not this birth in the cold of a manger foreshadow the ascent to Calvary, the crucifixion—that second birth for all of humanity? Is it, then, entirely healthy to wish our loved ones a happy new year—as if we were hoping for a sanitized year, free of pain, in short, the same continuous lethargy in which we spend the end-of-year holidays? It would be wiser to wish for a rewarding year—that is, a year of perseverance and success in the face of trials.

Especially when the holiday season is marked by hardship and suffering, here or elsewhere, Christmas is also here to remind us just how much all the evil and hatred in the world, despite their destructive fury, inevitably clash with the infinite tenderness that one human being has for another. There has often been debate about the supposed goodness—or, conversely, the inherently evil nature—of human beings. Christmas is here to remind us just how the most terrible cruelty, yesterday as today, coexists with the greatest gentleness, even if it is hidden, swaddled, and fragile.

More than anything else, Christmas proves that people cannot remain indifferent to the suffering of their fellow human beings; in short, Christmas restores our faith in humanity. Let’s give leaders—and this is a major concern for the coming year—the chance to be messengers of peace, not bloodthirsty Herods. Let us give tyrants the chance to turn the other cheek and find a consensus for peace. To find peace, must one not first have known war? Such is the terrible idea that saddens us, yet is, unfortunately, necessary.

On a more mystical note, let’s make Christmas a celebration of the alpha and the omega. May all things—good and bad—come to an end, and may new flowers bloom from their remains. May this rebirth take place amid pain, for better or for worse. After all, no one knows all the outcomes, and the ways of the Lord remain inscrutable. Let us therefore not judge the world or humanity, but welcome whatever the future holds with humility—and, if we lack confidence, at least with serenity.

To the readers of the Regard Libre, a year that helps them grow.