Christmas In Full Swing

IT'S ELEVEN DAYS before Christmas. I don’t know what happened but I didn’t even realize it until Korina Sanchez said so at the end of tonight’s TV Patrol over ABS-CBN.

        My daughter Ghiselle and I have started buying gifts but we continue to make lists. We have yet to set up our angel-shaped lights and decorate the four walls of our apartment with paper poinsettias and Christmas ribbons.

        But as if to make up for this, the entire metropolis – including my neighborhood – is all spruced up with bright lights, giant Christmas trees and life-sized mangers depicting the birth of Christ. 

         Continuing with the signs of the season, my social life has come alive with a heavy schedule of parties with friends, former colleagues and, of course, family.

        My LSS (last song syndrome) is make my wish come true, all I want for Christmas is you ... The ASAP Rocks  performers sang the song in the show’s opening number two Sundays ago; and it was the same song (Mariah Carey’s version) used by the House of Dance performers in the finale of Halu-Halong Indak, USTHS Batch 71’s fund-raising dance concert held last Saturday at the Irwin Theater of the Ateneo in Quezon City for the benefit of Cottolengo Filipino.

        Bazaars and tiangges have mushroomed all over the place in a seeming delineation of a commercialized season.

        To aptly illustrate the message of Christmas, on the other hand, we witness generosity at its best with fastfood chains and other establishments spearheading gift-giving activities.


MARCUS, the second to the youngest
 member of my family
donates his toys to Jollibee.
With him is his Uncle Abe.

       Christmas is indeed in full swing. Despite celebrity couples breaking up, Oplan Put the Little Girl to Sleep, and other depressing developments in a Filipino life, hope and excitement and, yes love, pervade the air.

        Let me now share a couple of reminders to make sure our Yuletide celebration is going to be calm and bright.

Embrace Everything Christmas. Let us be thankful there is Christmas and focus on why we celebrate it. Stop worrying about the expenses and the credit card charges later on. Besides, there is no need to splurge.

        In my family, gift-giving is a big thing but it is not always about the gifts that we receive. It is more like having that exhilarating feeling of anticipation as our names are called to receive our gifts and unwrap what’s in them. Each year, we are just so happy to be together and having a great party – with our favorite food and drinks and a crazy program of fun and games. We actually give out small cash as prizes for the games we play but the happiness we experience is priceless.

One Solitary Life. Surely you already know the real reason of the season but to get into the spirit, we are reprinting this familiar piece – an adaptation from a sermon by James Allan Francis in the 1920s – and reflect on the Birthday Boy – 

Here is a man, who was

born of Jewish parents, the child

of a peasant woman.

He never wrote a book, he

never held an office,

he never gained a home.

He never went to college.

He never set foot inside

the big city. He never

traveled two hundred miles from

the place where he was born.

He never did any of the things

that usually accompany greatness.

He had no credentials but himself.

While still a young man, the tide

of popular opinion turned against

him. His friends ran away, one

of them denied him. He was nailed

to a cross between two thieves.

His executioners gambled for

the only piece of property he had

on earth – his coat.

When he was dead, he was taken down

and buried in a borrowed grave

through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen wide centuries have

come and gone, and he is

the centerpiece of the human race

and the leader of the column

of progress. I am not far

within the mark when I say

that all armies that ever marched

and all navies that ever sailed

have not affected the life of man

upon the earth as powerful as that

One Solitary Life.

Count Your Blessings. This is a one-liner that we hear too often but it is important to count one’s blessings. When we do count them, be meticulous and do not leave anything out. Aside from loved ones and the things you treasure, count your lousy job, the sunshine following the rain, even arriving in your place of destination after a bus ride with the man behind the wheel driving dangerously.

Mode of Gratitude. Upon acknowledging God's blessings, get into a gratitude mode. Be thankful for each day that you breathe, see, touch, smell and hear and that you can move and think and feel. Most of all – and here's another worn-out but still true one-liner – thank the God Almighty for sending His Only Son to redeem the world.

From Gratitude to Generosity. Translate your gratitude and participate in the true essence of Christmas by practicing generosity. Get involved, give back, pay it forward ... however you call it, do it this Christmas and onwards.

        At St. Peter Parish (Commonwealth Avenue, QC), where I hear mass, they feed poor families within the community and give toys to the children on Christmas day. Parishioners and other concerned citizens donate cash as well as toys and other gift items to give these families a feeling of Christmas. You can check out for similar activities in your parish or other charitable institutions. In this time and age, doing charity work has been made easy for everyone.

        Away from home, I am proud to announce that my daughter Pee Ann and her special friend Alex are doing their share of charity. They will start baking cupcakes tomorrow to be donated to Santa Anonymous in the town of Banff in Canada, where both are currently based. They have recently set up their own bake shop called Frosted Crumbs. (More about this in a later post.)

Breathe and Enjoy. In between the days of Christmas, take some time to catch your breath or simply exhale leisurely. Schedule a silent night in between the heavy partying and shopping. Get a spa or a massage after a wrapping session with family.

        More importantly, enjoy the scenery and the warm atmosphere that only happens in this time of year. Marvel at the bright lights, the pots of poinsettias, your smiling loved ones, most specially the kids who wish “Christmas won’t be late.”

Get Lost in the Magic. On Christmas day itself, get into the beauty and the fun and the magic of the big event. As for me, I will pig out, get into alcoholic high, dance, sing, laugh out loud, and give everybody a hug.

        Of course, my family and I will attend the Midnight Mass to start off our cool Yule. Mom will be terribly missed – our first Christmas without her – but I’m sure she would want us to continue celebrating life and the amazing connection we have with one another.

Take on the Virtue of Giving. Finally, do not let the spirit of Christmas end on Christmas day. Keep the spirit alive and establish in yourself the virtue of giving now and always.

        It's better to give than to receive is actually a beautiful adage. But so as not to sound cliche-ish, contemplate on Kahlil Gibran's words: You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

        Let me also quote Kris Aquino who once said, Regret not what you have given but what you have held back. Now, of course, she must have said this in the name of love, but it becomes generic in the art of giving.

        Well, Merry Christmas everyone ... and to the rest of the world, Happy Holidays!