Christmas Thoughts and Happenings

I noticed that the festivities of this occasion are starting to decline, diminish, minimize (I can't think of a correct term!). In general, it is becoming less festive each passing year. I noticed that the houses and the streets have lesser Christmas lights. You can hardly find buildings at Ayala with huge Christmas tree and nativity replicas. There are less Carolers (yup! at least for the case of our neighborhood). The malls along Makati are not that crowded, while Station 168 of Divisoria is literally thick with shoppers as early as 6AM. The only last testimony that I know that Christmas is really something to enjoy and be thankful for is text messaging (thank you for the text greeters!).

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Darn, I have no gifts from other people this year, like my godparents, uncles and aunts, except for some few close friends courtesy of exchange gifts. Their reason: Marami ka namang napanalunan. Haha. But that's ok, I guess I can't askfor so much. I can't be too greedy.

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While there are lesser festivities, the Christmas-mode of people sure is still alive and kicking. A lot of parties on the streets still happen, in the tune of Willie's Boom-Tarat2x (yeah! I can't believe Willie's song is a craze now). There are still Christmas parties on various places, though some chose to donate their funds to the victims of typhoon Reming (which is better).

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I was able to complete 9 mornings of Misa De Gallo. With the sincerest hopes that my deepest desires with be granted, I never regret having to wake up early for 9 days to be with the Creator. Though there are times that my thoughts are not with the mass 100%, I shall always remember the lessons of these 9 mornings. I can still clearly remember the theme: Love Builds Up, Character, Capacity and Community. In our Church, during offertory, people are encouraged to bring pieces of twigs for Christ's feedbox, symbolizing the sharing of burden and love for Christ.

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Even in our family, I felt that there's less commotion. Nonetheless, the spirit remains. We enjoyed our simple Noche Buena, but the cakes and Krispy Kreme doughnut that I bought seem to be the most sellable among those who joined our Birthday dinner for Christ. I also made a fruit salad for everyone.

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My friend Ace Romero spoke to me over the phone. He told me that the politicians at Congress give envelopes of cash and various goods like groceries and wine to reporters, most specifically Prospero Pichay who gave around P500-P1000 per reporter. Aside from these personal giveaways of Congressmen, they also had this Christmas raffle for Press people. Ace won a Promac TV. Haha. I guess politicians take advantage of this occasion. What's worse is that the legend is true. If a small time reporter like my friend Ace Romero of Business World receives cash envelopes, what more are the TV reporters and anchors.

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It was really a struggle texting from Globe to Globe. The free text of Globe caused this year to be the busiest for Globe ever, unlike with Smart where texting is a breeze.

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As the song goes: "Ngunit kahit na anong mangyari, ang pag-ibig sana ang maghari. Sapat nang si Hesus ang kasama mo, tuloy na tuloy pa rin ang Pasko!"

Christmas must go on, for it is the greatest miracle and proof of God's love. Let us not allow our problems and issues to hinder us from greeting Christ a Happy Birthday, even if we are pennyless and giftless (hu hu hu!).

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On a more personal note, I can't thank Jesus enough for the early yet greatest gifts that he gave me this year. Thank you for letting others appreciate my achievements, and for letting me win a significantly huge amount of money. Thank you also for not letting us go during the troubling times, most especially the times when my Dad was in trouble.

Jesus, thank you for the gift of loving Family, loyal friends and appreciative aquaintances, Thank you for the give of health, and for the gift of opportunities. Thank you for the gift of knowledge, that allowed me to achieve quite a lot of things. Thank you for the gift of tangible things, and more thanks for the gift of intangible things. Thank you for the gift of Life, a life with nothing but the best 21 years, and a life that gave me the chance to grow by thriving to problems. Last but definitely not the least, thank you for the gift of unconditional Love, the Love that I never deserved but you gave without hesitation.

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I wish you nothing but more blessings. I also hope that in this occasion, you will be a blessing to others who need it most. May you be able to recover and make up for past hurts, and lastly, let us include in our Christmas and New Year prayers our less fortunate brothers, most especially the victims of typhoon Reming and other awful tragedies. Let us pray that these less fortunate brothers of ours will still appreciate the essence of Christmas despite the hard times.

A Blessed Christmas to you and your family.