“I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year. And thus I drift along into the holidays - let them overtake me unexpectedly - waking up some fine morning and suddenly saying to myself: Why, this is Christmas Day!” —David Grayson
The holidays are upon us again. Christmas is a time of giving and sharing. A time to be with family and friends. A time to celebrate the birth of our Savior and a time to take in the euphoria of the Yuletide season.
However, it’s a rather difficult time to bask in holiday cheer this year, especially since the country—and the entire world—is in a state of crisis. Jobs are scarce, layoffs are massive, and shopping for gifts seems to be the last thing in everyone’s minds.
Christmas this year has become a season for austerity and a season for coping with difficult times and making ends meet. Balikbayan boxes—that sizable parcel of goodies sent to loved ones in the Philippines that has become a tradition for most Filipino-Americans—would have to be less extravagant this year, if at all. Money remittances would probably be reduced and even food shopping for our Christmas dinners would have to be less lavish.
It may sound bleak, but we should remember that the Savior was born in a manger—the humblest place in Bethlehem in the dead of night, with only the animals to keep them company. Yet Mary and Joseph managed and the birth of Jesus Christ was still received with much rejoicing. The true meaning of Christmas rests upon this humble yet noble birth, and we should always keep it in our minds and hearts whenever depression batters us.
As Filipino-Americans who are unwavering in our Christian faith, we should always consider the parol, the symbol of the guiding star that led the three wise men to the Christ, and the belen as our ethereal Christmas icons here in the United States. Let us not let trying times wear us down. Instead, let us look deep in ourselves and relive the essence of Christmas in our hearts and in our souls.
The true spirit of the Season should inspire us to spend more time with our loved ones instead of spending money on material gifts. Having our families is the greatest gift that God could provide and we should be thankful that this gift still remains with us.
A simple phone call to the Philippines, an hour or two spent talking or chatting online with our loved ones, a trip back home instead of our usual balikbayan box fare, a humble donation of our old clothes and toys to our less fortunate brothers and sisters in the Philippines—all these efforts cost less, yet they are far more sublime than any expensive purse or perfume or clothing.
Let us be thankful for God’s enduring grace—our families who stay with us through thick and thin, not only at Christmas, but every single day that we toil and get through life’s adversities.
As the American columnist and author Burton Hillis once said, “The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.” (www.asianjournal.com)
(Published December 17, 2008 p.mdwk2 LAMDWK)
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