True Message of Christmas

The True Message of Christmas

(Published in Central Chronicle, Bhopal Dec. 23, 2009.)




              Christmas is the commemoration of the Birth of Christ that took place more than two thousand years ago. December 25 has been celebrated, as the birthday of Jesus Christ, and Birthday, whose ever it may be, is always matter of great joy, We start the preparations for Christmas around thirty days before the actual day. There is lot of decoration done, we clean and decorate our houses, send greeting cards to our near and dear ones, prepare a crib and off course, participate with full devotion in the liturgical celebrations. Often on Christmas day we invite our friends and relatives for a sumptuous meal to share our joy. This is what we normally perceive what the Christmas is, but is that all, the Christmas is about?


Christmas is not just an event of celebration, something celebrated outwardly. It’s a great event not only in the life a Christian but in the history of salvation of whole humanity. It’s not only the commemoration of the birth of Jesus in a manger at Bethlehem, but it’s an event that marks coming down of God Himself to meet humanity, to live among best of His creation, the human beings, so that they give up their evil ways turn to God and to be saved. It is an event when God’s love towards humanity crossed all boundaries. The “Days of Advent” are given to us not just for decorating our houses, but also to decorate our hearts and prepare ourselves internally as well as spiritually. God’s decision to dwell among humanity humanity, is an invitation for all of us to turn towards God. God loved the world so much that He gave His only son (Jesus Christ) to save all human beings, and to teach us to love one another. Now it is our turn to do our part.


Is there any religion that teaches that loving one another is sin and harmful hence should not be practiced? Has God ever asked a person to do something that is impossible for him/her? The only true message of Christmas is this: God loves us unconditionally, so much so that He sent His Son Jesus Christ, who died as an innocent victim on the cross for the sins of whole humanity. In return, God does not want from us anything extra-ordinary but only that, we should love Him and one another sincerely. Ultimately, God would want that the whole humanity, whom He has fashioned out of His Eternal love and creativity, live in peace and harmony. That’s why he came down as “Prince of Peace.”


Today, the world is facing a lot of challenges. Peace seems a rare commodity; peace within individuals, peace with the nature etc. There is lot of turmoil and disturbance in the world. People, instead of loving one another, are bent on to shedding the blood of one another in the name of caste and creed, for selfish motives. The other person has become just an object to satisfy one’s desires. Will the god of any religion want that this world should be flooded with one another’s blood? Will God, whom we call by whatever name want that human beings should not love one another? The real Christmas or any festival for that matter, will be meaningful only when we realize that God loves us unconditionally and so we also should love one another. So let’s try to understand the real meaning of Christ’s coming into this world (Christmas) that is, God being born not in a manger but in the hearts of whole humanity. Let us turn to God, love Him, and love one another.



- B. Johnson Maria

Who will hear their plea?

Who will hear their plea?

(Published in "Free Press" Indore, Weekend special issue on 27 Dec., 2009.)

We are free citizens of free India. We all have equal rights and duties carved out for us by our forefathers in the form of constitution of our country. There are also laws that are created to protect the rights of each one of us and laws to remind us of our duties. It’s all very easy to say, and very pleasant to hear that ‘we all are equal,’ but is there somebody to tell this, to all, that we have equal rights? “What is there to tell to all, it’s all there in our constitution,” one would say. Nevertheless, here question arises, do all citizens of India have a copy of the constitution and are able to understand it? Majority of India dwells in villages, with which also dwell the poverty, illiteracy and many other evils that should have been disappeared by now, had we worked all together to eradicate them.

The situation is like that of a vulnerable person having a machine gun for his protection, but nobody has taught him to operate it. Will it do any good to him? Will it really protect him from the dangers for which it is meant? Today, millions of our brothers and sisters, in the form of poor, dalits, tribals, illiterate, down trodden, marginalized and minorities hold this weapon of their rights, but there is nobody who knows to operate it and willingly ready to impart his knowledge to them.

Poor tribals, whose land gets snatched by the powerful, don’t have anyone to speak for them. Poor slums, dwelling in the outskirts of the cities, give altogether a different picture of our country – the golden bird. It is not that our governments sit with closed eyes towards them; there are hundreds of schemes to bring them up, but who is there to tell them about these schemes? There are innumerable poor and weak people who are thoroughly exploited by the stronger sections of the society, but there is nobody to tell them that our forefathers never wanted this all, that’s why they gave us sure protection in the form of our constitution, but who will strengthen them to fight for justice? Government is doing a lot for them but we should never forget that even the government consists also of the people who have their own pockets too.

The media will readily cover the news of a celebrity having headache, or buying a new car or a Netaji attending a marriage party, but it won’t cover the news of the people in far interiors being exploited, people being deprived of education, only because they are far from cities. The media cannot reach there because there are no proper roads, the ministers cannot reach for the same reason. A lawyer, who is well versed in the law, will not prefer to fight for the cause of the poor and downtrodden, because they do not have enough to pay him. He needs his fees and ‘legal charges.’ If the government turns a deaf ear towards the millions of tribals, dalits and weaker sections of the society, if media closes its eyes to their pain and exploitation, if people who know the law and rights but do not impart the knowledge to the ones who need it most, then who will hear their plea and who will fight for them, or enable them to fight for justice?

- B. Johnson Maria

Your Best Friend!

In this world of machines, when you feel human,
To share humanness, when you need someone,
When realize you’re lonely, lost and depressed.
Dull and discouraged, and need to be refreshed,
When you find, you’re in dark and need a light,
Defeated and rejected, feel unfit to win the fight,
When you find none to listen, and none to share
When all leave you, leave you without care,
You look for a place to sit in calm and peace,
Look someone with whom to share that peace.
I know a person, who can be your best friend,
Who’ll share your joys and sorrows, such friend,
The best friend is within you, that’s your “Self,”
No greater support but, you the greatest help.
Go with your self, sit and chat, share and care,
You’d realize, never realized before, he’s there,
Listen to him, tell him and seek his guidance,
“Self” is your own Guru, feel the renaissance,
Talk to your “Self”, listen to him frequently,
You’ll be good, better, and best consequently.

- B. Johnson Maria

Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkatta

True Messenger
(A Tribute to Mother of Kolkatta)


Commuters running up and down,
A living corpse, I saw in town.
Gaunt figure, with body bleeding,
Worsened by the clouds’ drizzling.
A dying leper, mercy imploring,
Human statues, callously walking.
He could foresee, his nearing end,
Why? Why did God not aid send?
That frail’s life, was full of dark,
Waited and waiting, for a pitied hark.
As death was nearing, I saw a hand,
He felt himself, elated from sand.
A wrinkled figure, clad in white,
Came in the dark, to spread the light.
She wiped his wounds, with a smile,
“Receive God’s love, my dear child.”
A true messenger of divine love was she,
Appointed to fulfill His plan to free.
On wrinkled face, the grace I could see,
That bade me; mother of Kolkatta was she,
Nay, of Kolkatta, but of the world,
Who brought in life, joys unfurled.

- B. Johnson Maria

Nature Meditation

You human beings!

           After searching a comfortable place, I sat peacefully on a piece of stone in the midst of natural grass and green trees. Many young and old trees, green with monsoon, with green and lively grass around and enthusiastic creepers. All seemed to flourish with life and joy, perhaps because of the previous day’s rain.

As I sat, trying to communicate with the nature, suddenly a thought occurred to me. The trees… how happily they are swinging and rejoicing, and when there is no water, or good soil, how miserably they die… what an undeserved death they get! I saw a bird, very happily singing and searching for food. I though, what a life they have… no time table for anything, no rules and regulations, no worry about anything at all. They live, exist and die an unknown death. When they will die, they don’t know, off course nobody knows about one’s death. What a waste of life! Only because they are not human. I was looking with contempt on that swinging tree, that restless bird, what is their life worth?

I felt as if the tree sensed what I was thinking… that’s why I felt as if it started to talk to me. It said, “What do you think, you are superior, you are great, just because you are human, just because you are rational, you can think, you have systematic life?” I looked in great surprise, it continued, “Look at us, we don’t bother about useless things, like you. Our heavenly father gives us life, and we enjoy it. We have nothing to regret, nothing to worry. When we get good rain, good mud, we rejoice that God our creator takes care of us. When there is no water, no productive land, and we have to die, we don’t feel bad about it, for it happens with the will of one who created us. We do only what He wants us to do. We know, he wants that when we are happy, we should rejoice, when we see our end, accept it. No regret for yesterday, no worry for tomorrow.”

I was dumb founded. It was talking philosophically, “You human beings! Because you have brain, you have thinking faculty; you use it worrying about useless things. You plan and re-plan, for what? Can you change God’s planning by trying to plan for yourself? When he gives happiness, you worry, how long this happiness will remain, how I can get some more happiness. Doing this, you ruin your own peace of mind; you lose the privilege of enjoying peace and happiness. When he gives you pain and sorrow, you start thinking about the causes of it, repercussions of it; in the process you lose the “fun” of facing them sincerely. You start blaming that your heavenly father does not love you and does not care for you.”

It kept on saying more, but I felt bereft of my thinking faculty, my brain had melted away. I got up quietly from my place and slowly moved as if ashamed of myself being a rational human being.

- B. Johnson Maria

वो सलीब- ऐ- सितम The Crusifiction

वो सलीब - ऐ - सितम

ऐ सुनो मुसाफिर तुम इस तरह कहाँ यूँ चले जा रहे हो?

मकसद जीने का दिया तुम्हें जो, उसे यूँ ही क्यों भुला रहे हो?

ज़माने ने किया तुम्हें अजनबी क्योंकि तुम हो मेरी अमानत

ख़ुद मैंने पुकारा तुम्हें क्यों मुझे ही यूँ तुम रुला रहे हो?

इस जमाने की खातिर सहा मैंने सलिबेसितम

नज़रंदाज़ करके वो प्यार क्यों, अश्के लहू मिटा रहे हो?

याद करो वो दर्दे सफर वो दर्दे सितम कलवारी पर

मोहताज़ हूँ तुम्हारी मदद का, क्यूँ मुहं मोडे यूँ जा रहे हो?

अरसे गुज़रे देखता हूँ मुड़कर, खून बहाया जो सलीब पर

मेरी ओर न लौटकर तुम, गुनाह पे गुनाह किए जा रहे हो?

बस एक बार सुन लो पुकार, न जाए वो कुर्बानी बेकार

वो भूलकर यूँ क्यों, मुझे अब भी कुर्बान किए जा रहे हो?

बी जोंसन मरिया