I’m quite sure that majority of us had a merry and joyful Christmas celebration yesterday. This, despite the uncertainty of what tomorrow brings.
Filipinos have this strong spiritual bond with Christmas. In spite of the emotional and financial struggles that we may face daily, we still find a way to commune with Christ, through the bonds we forge with family and friends.
Strong is the holiday spirit even among those of us who exist hand-to-mouth, or have to strive day by day, sharing barely enough food for the whole family. Cooler nights and airwaves suffused with songs meant to get everybody into the chill and thrill of the Christmas spirit could have helped boost dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins—happy hormones—in our bloodstream. This explains the feeling of joy or even serenity in the air as Christmas comes.
As a child, my fondest memories were of wonderful Noel celebrations: taking out of storage our holiday ornaments; caroling with my friends; completing the nine-day Simbang Gabi; excitedly opening my presents; and partaking of our family’s traditional noche buena fare.
Today, in the home I have built with my wife and only child, Christmas remains the most awaited and celebrated event, eclipsing even birthdays and all other holidays combined. Our daughter Michelle may no longer have the wide-eyed delight of a child on Christmas morn, but it is still one of her most anticipated holidays. The spirit lives on!
We have been a tolerant nation even in this day and age where hatred, bigotry and misogyny are subliminally being encouraged by those who are supposed to lead and inspire us. Fortunately, there is still enough Yuletide juice to be squeezed out of each resilient Filipino.
But it is also lamentable that Christmas has become almost synonymous with material possessions and superficial festivities. If only empty wallets, shopping-worn feet, and bloated bellies were the things we have to worry about this holiday season, and not one senseless death too many or one injustice left unsolved, then there would be so much to revel about! If Christmas to you means more than just gifts and parties, then you have a lot to be thankful for and look forward to.
The verse “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You” was shown on the very first commercially available holiday card in 1843, but its use as a yearly Yuletide greeting goes way back to 1565, when it appeared in The Hereford Municipal Manuscript.
It was through the publication of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol in the early part of the sovereignty of Queen Victoria that Christmas—as we have come to know it—was invented. The word merry was about to take on a new connotation of “jovial” and “outgoing” (and, to a large extent, drunk). Subconsciously, we may have taken merriment to mean losing ourselves in physical or temporary pleasure, thereby losing the very essence of the birth of Jesus Christ.
We have been through a lot of challenges and adversities this year, and it may take some time for many of us to recover. The legendary King Arthur of Celtic mythology once said that “there’s no worst death than the end of hope,” and that “hope is what would see us through.” It is a whisper or prayer of hope, and our resolute stance against misfortunes, that will shield us from the Scrooges of our time.
May the year 2020 bring each of us, our families and our nation true peace and prosperity. God bless us all!
BusinessWise will be on a holiday break. My next column will be on the first Thursday of 2020. Many thanks to all my readers who have followed and, shared my musings in different social-media platforms. Happy New Year to all of you!
For comments and suggestions, e-mail me at mvala.v@gmail.com