It is not hard to say that nowadays, Christmas is becoming nothing but an ordinary day in the calendar. The season that is supposed to be filled with the tangible presence of joy and meaningful celebration now seems just a time to party, just another event that one gets away with and then nothing.
It is a reality: the true meaning and essence of Christmas now seems to be buried amid the confusion that is happening around us. There seems to be no end to the disillusions that gravely blinds humanity to the truth. What transpires these days from all over the world—the problem of social justice, terrorism, war, poverty and apathy, the ever threatening issues of climate change, and the harrowing story of international politics—do nothing but make people to resign to hopelessness and desperation.
In the country today, the situation is a lot worse and the scenario is more appalling, which disheartens even the staunchest hopefuls.
Corruption and distrust among public officials were as rampant as the diseases that spread in the shanty towns and squatter areas all over the country. The disease of dirty politics now threatens every corner of the archipelago; the people are hoping that somehow, this new administration which took over a regime of lies and lawlessness from its predecessor will indeed turn this nation into the proverbial“matuwid na daan” which it professes.
One could only hope that one day, the people will wake up from their deep slumber, and take necessary actions. And I could only hope that one day, people will stop blaming other people for every misfortune they or their country will encounter, and to embrace responsibility for whatever circumstance that befalls. Finger-pointing, or looking who’s to blame only adds to the confusion that is sadly becoming the byword of the already confused people.
With honest desperation and quiet whimper, we are led to ask these questions: how do we get away with the evils and ills of our society? How do we remake our lives in such a way that there will be no more confusion in our midst?
And how come people terribly dread the answer to these questions? Even though we already know it?
They said that it’s easy to end up hope and give up life in these trying and difficult times. It’s easy to surrender all that we have ever dreamed for our lives, for our families and loved ones. It’s easy to just stop living a life of hope, because after all, what we see now in the current landscape are the same things that we dread to see.
In short, it’s easier to stop living and believe in nothing.
But in return, what would that make us as a people? What would that make me as a person who still thinks that life is good despite the fact that the bad is also present?
I am torturing myself with the same questions again and again just to test if I can still come up with a good conclusion, to test if I can still think of sane answers to these troubling questions about these insane circumstances. What if I give up hope? Just like that?
Perhaps it’s the same with other people—and maybe even worse. There are more people experiencing the worst of life out there, having little or nothing to make sense of it. But sure, what’s happening around, what we see, what we observe only affirms that we are still alive and that we can do something about it. That this season reminds us that we have the capacity for compassion and love for one another.
That’s the essence I think, of being alive, of having the chance to celebrate this season: to be able to feel what others are feeling—the feeling of inadequacy, the feeling of hopelessness, of utter lack of compassion, and of love and sacrifice and hope. If only people will really find time to realize that there is more to Christmas than just gifts and foods and party and noise...then life will be much different. Christmas will entirely be different.
This life has it's own troubles and difficulties. That’s a reality to learn. We are never given the easy road wherein we can all get by happy and scot-free. There are the turns, the bumps, and the dead ends. But in all that, there's also another truth to this. A wonderful truth is that life, in its twists and turns, promises to be a beautiful and fulfilling journey. And that is if we are journeying along with the One Who gives us every single reason to hope and live.
And yes, He has given us the reason why we must be joyful and hopeful not only in this season but all throughout our lives: that one night, in a cold manger, in a far-away place, with only the moon and the stars served as a majestic canopy above, a Child was born. Clothe in humility and unconditional love for His people, He reached out to them. He came for us. His name is Jesus Christ. And He's the reason for this season.
A happy and meaningful Christmas!
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| Just a glimpse of the greatest story ever told. (google image) |
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