It was in the Areopagus, ancient Athens’ council of legislators and judges, that the Apostle Paul first proclaimed, “You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious . . . I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’

What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.” (Acts 17:22b, 23b, 24) Paul proceeds to preach where at a certain point, some officials scoffed while some wished to hear more of this teaching.

Christmas has come, and this season is all about a God who, while remaining unknown to many for centuries, has chosen to make that leap from eternity into history and be made flesh. The Gospel of John, Chapter 1:14 even states, “and made his dwelling among us.” This is more than coming down from heaven and being born. It means that this God opted to live an ordinary life among people—to do things that we all do: eat, drink, make merry, carry on a profession, build friendships, etc. This is a God who desires belong. This is a God who wishes to be known. This is a God who wants to be involved in the hearts and in the affairs of humankind. This is Christmas. This is why we celebrate with joy.

But events leading up to this year’s Christmas have not given many much reason to celebrate. The senseless massacre of 20 school children and six school employees in Newtown, Connecticut have brought many to ask in social media forums, “Where was God in all this?” The questions have drawn many to issue comforting statements, even citing the Bible for some words to ease the pain and shock. Most interesting was the shared video clip (on some social media forums) of American politician Mike Huckabee challenging the question coming from a society that apparently tries to push God out of the public square. But the question remains, challenging the lesson of Christmas: Is God really with us? Does he even care?

On the home front, pro-life groups received a fatal blow with the legislature’s OK on the controversial reproductive realth (RH) bill. One defense of pro-RH groups against pro-life advocates is the arguable definition of the “separation of church and state” and the assurances that they voted on the basis of conscience. Despite objections of many religious groups, legislators voted on a conscience that is apparently not aligned with the moral convictions of their affiliated denominations. It seemed short of keeping God out of the Philippine Areopagus.

In the practice of business and management, there is a constant struggle for ethical norms to be truly infused and aligned. The traditional mandate for business is to earn a profit, and some managers are viewed as taking the profit objective to the extreme, even at the expense of legal (and better, righteous) behavior.

Perhaps this Christmas, we can all take the time not only to celebrate with our loved ones. Take a few moments of quite recollection: Shall we continue to push this God out of our secular spaces, or is it going to be Christmas in our hearts everyday, where God will be deeply involved in our public life, in our society, in our work, in our businesses, in our schools, in our government? Hopefully, we all say yes.

Have a blessed, God-filled Christmas!

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Denver Bingski D. Daradar., is a part-time Lecturer on Strategic Management, Management of Organizations, and Organizational Behaviour at the De La Salle University Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business. He may be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of De La Salle University, its faculty, and administrators.