I have been quite intrigued for quite some years now, how and why Christmas is called Xmas! My mathematics teacher in the school days had said that x refers to the unknown number that is yet to be known. I was quite curious to explore the reasons how this so-called abbreviation came to be. After googling my way for a while, I realise that it is a mystery, just as the birth of Jesus was a mystery. One of the Internet sites http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xmas has some explanations on the origin of the abbreviation, but that is not much convincing. The authors suggest that the word/abbreviation xmas is in vogue for the past 1000 years, whether you believe it or not. But that is immaterial whether it has been in use for long years or for a short while now, what is more important is that we have come to replace Christ with the single letter x, and if we look at this seemingly innocuous abbreviation with a magnifying glass, we may find amazing and bright images, which say about the nature of this divine person, who had come into the world and pitched his tent.
I had already begun one aspect, which although intriguing, is also interesting. Jesus was and is still today a mystery, the so called x, we use in algebra. We cannot find the value of x, without the help of other components, which make the whole. Without the value of x, the sum total remains incomplete and inaccessible! The unknown and the yet-to-be-known keeps us on our toes to unravel the mystery number. There is a lot of hope in us, even the students who cannot make out, hope to find the number out. There is a certain amount of thrill in the discovery too! Now, to a person who is a seeker of truth, the x (implying here Christ) makes all the meaning. We also know that the x cannot remain all the time the unknown, it has to be revealed, and that responsibility is with us. It may be interesting if the x were to jump out of our hats and give a self-manifestation, but the joy in discovering the unknown is far more than the former.
The letter x is also used widely and universally to denote the wrong and the unusable. When I show my sum to the teacher and if she puts a x (significantly we call it a cross), i know I was not right. Unfortunately we have not devised anything that is between a tick mark and the cross. Therefore when we see the sign x, we know that we are in the wrong track. In fact the mystery of the incarnation of Christ is the height of stupidity; God unnecessarily volunteers to dirty his hands. S/he is in the wrong place; maybe a different planet with different kind of creatues might have responded differently. Whose mistake is it anyway? Ours or God's? Of course, it is God's. Why did he leave the heavens and come to be born in a manger? Is it not foolishness?
We use the same x to denote not fit or unsuited. When we see the cross mark on the letter P, we know that no parking is permitted. If we continue with the allegory, we realise that x takes possession of the p, and does not permit anyone else to trespass. When we mark a bottle of medicine with an x, it implies that it is not for use; the medicine consumes as it were, its own content, so that others may not have to bear the consequences. Does it not happen in the same way in the birth of Jesus? At the gateway to earth, Jesus places an x to ward off the other forces that may try to enter in to cause conflict and division. But when men go out to meet and befriend the enemy, the x permits them. Now tell me, is the x given to Christ an abomination? In fact, the single letter x summarises the nature and mission of Christ so succinctly than any other letter of the alphabet can. Even the greek first and last letters alpha and omega cannot compete with the benign x!
There is a bit of x in all of us, irrespective of our religious affiliations, caste, creed, nationality and langugage. There are two areas that keep shifting to and fro : the known part of myself and the unknown area. Johari window has been opening up new vistas for us to recognise and improve on. There is an area in each of our lives, which is a mystery to ourselves and others, and until we discover these hidden treasures, we may be submerged in our own misery. I would like to sit quietly for two minutes, and delve deep into my inner recesses, to find the areas still kept hidden from the view of myself and the world outside. It may not be possible that I unravel these areas in a day, but I can make an effort to slowly open the sheaths and find out who I truly am; if I realise that I am a child of God, worthy of love and care, that can make a lot of difference in the world. Is it not time, therefore that I too affix the letter x before my name?
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