Every December, something stirs, quietly at first, like daylight breaking just before dawn.
You can almost feel it approaching…
A warm, gentle glow touching your heart, bathing you with its radiance. Then with it comes a softening of the soul and a tugging of the heart. A mystery rising like a gentle tide.
Suddenly, without fanfare or permission, the world around us begins to glow.
Children laugh a little louder with anticipated excitement of receiving pressies. Strangers smile a little easier, nodding and acknowledging each other.
Families and friends reach out to each other. And woven through the fabric of this serenely stunning tapestry of heavenly art is a shimmering thread of something ancient, powerful and beautiful…the wonder of Christmas.
The uplifting sounds of Joy To The World, together with a string of popular Christmas classics, crackle through the air embracing us like a finely crafted cloak of immeasurable warmth, colour and beauty.
Around us, the world begins to shimmer, glitter and glow. Our chest rises, filled with a warmth and joy that’s strangely calming, refreshing, reassuring. Even healing.
Grandparents smile with tears gently running down their cheeks remembering the decades of Christmas memories from days gone by. As they watch their children and grandchildren, their hearts fill with overwhelming gratitude, pride and joy.
But the true story of Christmas, the story that’s moved empires, softened the hearts of steely warriors and healed the wounded, begins not with noise, but with the breathtaking stillness of an ancient moment in history that brought heaven to earth.
Mary…When heaven spoke to a heart that trembled
She was not a queen. Not a leader. Not a figure anyone expected to be written into eternity.
She was simply Mary — young, quiet, unseen, unknown by the world. Then suddenly, the veil between heaven and humanity thinned…and God’s Chief Messenger, the Angel Gabriel, entered her ordinary life with an extraordinary message that’s had a profound impact on the history of the world:
“Do not be afraid Mary, for you have found favour with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus!”
She was bewildered and afraid. She was overwhelmed. She was human.
But in her trembling, something extraordinary rose.
No throne. No crown. Just courage – pure, unpolished, divinely inspired courage.
Her “yes” was not shouted with obvious excitement of a marriage proposal.
It was whispered with humble obedience and anxious hope.
That whisper still echoes across centuries like thunder.
Joseph…The man who chose love over pride for his bride
And then there was Joseph…the man in the background of the nativity scenes, rarely celebrated, rarely spotlighted.
But oh, how heaven must’ve watched him with awe.
A good man, a compassionate man yet a man who felt bitterly betrayed, aggrieved and broken.
He knew the child Mary was carrying wasn’t his, simply because they hadn’t yet consummated their marriage.
Imagine for just a moment his confusion…the sting of betrayal, the weight of humiliation and the crushing pressure of his world imploding because of the razor sharp tongues of gossip and judgment that were already buzzing around the village where they lived.
Yet despite his world being turned upside down, he chose kindness.
He chose to walk away quietly, divorcing Mary honourably and in so doing, sparing her shame and embarrassment even though it shattered him.
But heaven saw his broken and troubled heart and the pain and confusion he was grappling with.
So heaven sent an angel to speak to him in a dream. The angel’s words filled him with divine wisdom and strength:
“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to yourself Mary your wife, for the thing begotten in her is from the Spirit, the holy one, and she will bear a son, and you will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
The birth…Light breaking into a world of shadows
We imagine Christmas in soft colours…gentle, tidy, glowing like the Christmas tree adorned with lights, tinsel and stars.
But the first Christmas was anything but raw and fierce with reality.
A young girl in pain.
A weary man desperate yet determined.
Doors closing. Voices saying, “No room.”
A world too busy to make space for its own miracle.
A stable became their shelter. Cold. Crude.
Crowded with the stench of smelly animals and manure.
But then, at the darkest hour, in the humblest place, the universe held its breath.
Then the promised Light entered the world.
Not in wealth. Not in power.
But in the cry of a newborn child in a manger.
The magi… Seekers who followed a whisper of light
In distant kingdoms, wise men lifted their eyes to the night sky…and saw a star they’d never seen before – a cosmic announcement heralding something deep and ancient within their spirit.
They didn’t travel because they had to.
They travelled because they knew something and felt something was calling them to a meeting with someone who’d arrived from another world
They followed the star through danger, through exhaustion, through uncertainty because they were driven by a longing older than themselves.
And when they finally arrived, their gifts signified the symbols of heaven’s holy mission:
Gold for the King of all kings.
Frankincense for the sacred presence He carried.
Myrrh for the sacrifice that He would one day make bringing freedom to humanity.
I believe the journey of the Magi teaches us an enlightening truth about ourselves.
When we accept by faith what we already know in our hearts to be true, and follow that road faithfully, despite our fears and doubts, we will come to a place of seeing the reason why we’re here. Your purpose will materialise on the pathway to glory.
A story that belongs to every heart
Strip away the decorations, the shopping, the noise…and we uncover a story that transcends every religion, tribe and tradition.
A girl who said “yes” when fear said run.
A man who stayed obedient when pride said leave.
Seekers who chased a star with only hope as their guiding map.
A child whose light still breaks through human darkness in a way like no other can.
Whether we call Him Saviour, Prophet, Teacher or Son of God…the message remains the same:
Hope is relentless. Light is unstoppable. Love is undefeatable.
In Fiji, a land of storms weathered, conflicts endured and hearts full of resilience, this story still speaks and sparks a renewed light and renewed faith that can sometimes be lost in the maze of everyday battles.
The darkest night is never the final chapter.
Because the light always returns…peering through the “cracks” in our lives hoping to reach out and touch us, heal us and make us aware of the greater gift that awaits each and every man, woman and child.
Why Christmas still steals our breath
Because deep down, every heart, Christian or not, religious or not, longs for the same things:
To be loved. To be guided. To be forgiven. To be seen. To be lifted. To be renewed. To make a difference.
Christmas whispers to every soul:
You matter. You belong. You’re loved beyond measure.
And even now, especially now, light is coming for you, reaching out to you and hoping that it’s your turn and your time to shine and discover the greatest gift given to mankind at a cost we really know little about.
A Christmas blessing for Fiji
This Christmas, may you pause long enough to feel the wonder rising around you:
The wonder of God’s breathtaking love through His Son Jesus Christ.
The wonder of families and friends holding each other close.
The wonder of hope that refuses to fade.
The wonder of a story that keeps healing a world in chaos and darkness.
May this wonderful world of peace settle softly into your soul, into your home and into your family.
May you feel grace walking beside you.
May the light that broke into the world that first Christmas night, shine on your path long after the season ends.
From my family to yours…
Wishing you a Christmas overflowing with wonder, warmth and a love that takes your breath away.
Happy Christmas!
And may the New Year bring you many reasons to smile and celebrate. And may it be filled with favour and blessings from Almighty God.
COLIN DEOKI lives in Melbourne, Australia and is a regular contributor to this newspaper. The views expressed in this article are his and not necessarily of this newspaper.
