This Christmas, as usual my cell phone would be swamped with well-meaning Christmas greetings and messages shared by friends and colleagues. Some would be well crafted, coming from the heart, a few would be gold nuggets of fresh insight, but most will be template generic recycled memes or quotes sent by others and forwarded to me.
Ensconced in the cool, soft comfort of our homes, we like to spread all sorts of inspiring messages to friends, with a self-satisfied feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day. But it’s just words, words, words. We love to talk the talk.
What is the usual Christmas talk? Love, sharing, love, compassion, hope.
Maybe this time, we should temper the talking and find the time to act. For, after all, love is a verb. And so is compassion. So instead of spending time talking about love and compassion, let’s find time to make them come alive.
I remember in my college days, there was a lecture of Renato Constantino about Jose Rizal that stirred some controversy in academic and intellectual circles at that time. The title was “Veneration Without Understanding.” By substituting “Celebration” for “Veneration” that title will be applicable to the way we perceive Christmas today.
We have lost the message of Christ’s birth in its original meaning. As usual this holiday season, we would go through the motions of lighting the four candles of advent, going to the Simbang Gabi, putting up the big Christmas tree in a public space, outdoing everyone to display the brightest Christmas lights, joining others in the last-minute shopping rush, preparing the Noche Buena feast and all that. And then nothing.
Is that all there is? Can’t we go any deeper than that? If this pandemic hasn’t led to an awakening to the deeper meanings in life, then we have wasted a good crisis.
On social media, “awake” is often rendered as “woke,” as in, “I was sleeping, but now I’m woke.” You may well have seen posts or tweets about current events that are tagged #staywoke. “Woke” has long been used as a byword for social awareness. But lately it has become a word of action.
In that context, perhaps in the light of these uncertain times, we need to “woke” the talk this Christmas.
Let’s take the family reunion, for example. Look to the Belen in that small corner of our house. What is the message there?
To me the tableau is meant for us to remember the family of the infant Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and acknowledge the importance of families in our own lives. No tie is more powerful in this world than the bond between family members. Our family is the most precious gift we have.
As we gather together at the Noche Buena table, let us put down and shut down our smartphones, tablets and other mobile isolators. Just for this Christmas, let us detach ourselves from the virtual world and seek connection with the real world and real people and make this Christmas a real celebration of family and of unity.
Maybe political beliefs and choices have driven a wedge among members of our family. Perhaps past hurts have left our relationship with certain family members rocky at best and adversarial at worst. Try to make this Christmas a time for renewal of love for each other and to forget past differences and petty grudges. Sit down and have an honest to goodness talk and sincerely address fault lines of repressed unspoken conflicts.
Meanwhile, let us not forget those who have been separated from their families or who have no families to go home to. Families who have no homes, now in evacuation centers or makeshift shelters because of natural disasters that have wrecked their houses.
Keep in mind also people who have to work during Christmas, away from their respective families because of the nature of their jobs: nurses, security guards, law enforcers, delivery personnel, and others.
Reach out and share your blessings with them in any way you can, guided by authentic empathy.
For the elderly, the holidays can be a very lonely time. They feel forgotten. It’s sad when old people sit all by themselves. Wrapped up in our own plans, we overlook the fact that the elder members of our families aren’t as mobile as they are, or as capable of taking active roles in holiday festivities.
Youngsters should be encouraged to talk to an elderly person. No matter what the conversation is about there is something interesting or a hidden lesson for them. Each wrinkle on their faces is a story! Those stories and lessons are more precious than diamonds.
Look outside the immediate family too. Think of the old people who have no one to take care of them, seniors who have been abandoned by their families. You can volunteer for a senior community program to “adopt” a senior citizen. Or you can visit an old couple down the street whose family lives far away, say hello to the old woman who sits alone at church.
To think of others—how to bring the greatest happiness to others—this is the true meaning of Christmas. Let’s be galvanized to action by the words of a traditional Pinoy Christmas song: Tayo ay magmahalan/Kahit hindi Pasko ay magbigayan.
This Christmas would be even more meaningful if the money to be spent on gifts and presents will be donated to the victims of calamities in Bicol and Cagayan and parts of Metro Manila and Rizal.
If not money, food and clothes to keep them warm during this cold season.
With the pandemic still ravaging other parts of the world and our fellow Filipinos still struggling to recover from the recent typhoons, it can be hard to find a reason to celebrate.
But light shines brightest in darkness. That’s the heart of the Christmas story, an overriding message of hope. Christmas teaches us that even when things seem dark, we can trust the everlasting light.
With all the bleak news around us, hope for a better future, especially for our children, is what everyone needs now more than ever. These unprecedented times call for us to be there for one another, to help ease the burden as one community, and to do our share for our future and our children.
Whatever is our calling—parent, mentor, student, son, daughter, athlete, frontliner, business entrepreneur, professional, public servant—we have a responsibility to not only take people away from the sadness that they’re feeling but also to empower and encourage people.
The poet Emily Dickinson said: Hope is the thing with feathers. Let’s use our voice in social media or in person to inspire hope in everyone.
Make the Christmas talk come alive. Stay woke, be hopeful, stay safe.