Getting With the Christmas Spirit
[d1noli @ Thursday, December 16, 2004] I need to be more cheery about the holidays. I really do.Christmas has not held as much magic for me as it used to. I don't know if it's becuase I've grown up or maybe because life seems to just have become so "fast" that I forgotten to appreciate it. All I know is that I miss the feelings of joy and wonder I used to have when I was little.
At least I haven't become a total scrooge. I still do believe in Santa even though I don't get presents from him anymore. (Have I become that bad that I'm no longer in his list?). I also believe in the goodness of the human spirit even though times have become a little more tough. So all-in-all, Christmas is still able to put that little extra warmth in this beating heart.
A lot of this positivity is due of course to the existence of my partner. Sure I may not get what I want these days (unless I buy it of course) but that really doesn't matter that much when you really don't have a lot to want. Ehhh, maybe I'm just being corny.
Still, I need to brighten up this holiday. I need to let go of my thoughts of our impending merger and the possibility of us losing our jobs. I need to be more forgiving about my brother even when he calls me a selfish sonofabitch. I need to be more patient when our budget wears a little too thin due to excessive spending. I need to be a better morale person overall.
I think that's what the Christmas Spirit is all about. We all have our problems but during times like these we need to stop and reflect on what is truly important in our lives. We need to open ourselves to the moment and allow ourselves to be filled with peace.
A little baby boy will soon be born. He will light the world with hope and teach us the true meaning of the Christmas Spirit.
Happy Holidays.
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[Nice thoughts, Oli!
[Christmas, I've grown to realize, is in the eye of the beholder. With younger eyes, I used to anticipate the coming of Christmas, literally jumping for joy everytime December ushers in. I miss the feeling of Christmas being around the corner, holding lots of surprises for me. Of course, this joy can be operationally defined then as the number and kinds of gifts for me under the Christmas tree.
But as we grow older, we all learn and know the true meaning of Christmas. It's all about giving and receiving, too. It's about a Savior born into this imperfect world, choosing to be poor, accepting a fate not befitting a king. It's about embracing the essentials, like family and friends, and all the intangible things that we hardly appreciate anymore.
And although we know all these in our heads, we always seem to be preoccupied with other concerns. How can't we be when we are bombarded with material expectations during this season? Just last night, I had to wrap all my gifts to my officemates and their children. Yes, their children, some of whom are my godchildren. It dawned on me that, year after year, in addition to my officemates, I have been giving gifts to the children in our office.
Perhaps, it is precisely the children in all of us that we should be giving gifts to. Christmas, after all, is for the children. It is for the children in all of us. And no matter how many years have gone by, I'm sure the child in us still jumps for joy everytime Christmas comes. Underneath all of the jadedness, the cynicism, the callousness we have allowed to define who we are, there is still that small child within us, waiting to be reborn every Christmas day.
This year, our country has experienced many tragedies. Houses have been washed away, lives have been snuffed, dreams have been crushed. And yet despite all these, we have learned as a people to lick our wounds and move on. Generosity and unity have once again prevailed. Proof only that adversity cannot down a people of deep faith and hope.
After everything has been said and done, I believe that what Christmas really offers is hope. Hope that our lives are always in God's hands. Hope that everything has a purpose. Hope that even in bleak, cold nights such as these, God has a wonderful gift for us, lovingly wrapped by His own hands, and one that will surely take us by surprise, making us feel the true meaning of joy. Didn't He joyously surprise mankind more than 2000 years ago? Without this kind of hope, there can be no happy new years after.
This is the kind of hope that I wish you not just this season but for always! Merry Christmas and a happy new year!
Sorry for the multiple deletions. The site haad posted several entries, so I deleted them. =)
[Chris, when you finish posting and you do not see your post in the main menu, hit refresh and it should appear. I believe that's why you are getting multiple posts. It's because you clicked publish post more than once.
[Maybe I'm wrong.
As a kid, and this holds true for all of us, Christmas has always been about gifts. That's what Christmas is. And that's what it should be all about, even now when we are all older and at least 30, no matter what our profiles at Friendster say.
Yes, Christmas is and should be about Jesus, but remember that He is a gift too. When we were kids, it was easy to see Christmas as magical, because the gifts were material and it is easy to see material things, but that doesn't make them less meaningful.
It's not because we were simple-minded and shallow. Receiving a gift is not lesser than giving a gift. After all, once can't give if another does not receive. For me, a gift, whether it be material or not, is a token, a symbol of a relationship between the giver and the gifted. To me, a genuine gift should give happiness to both. A child will be happy at getting a new toy. A parent will be happy at being able to provide for his child.
I used to feel guilty at feeling good about buying and giving presents for Christmas. I was concerned I wasn't giving for the sake of giving. But that's just skewed. We shouldn't give for the sake of giving. We should give for the sake of receiving. Receiving in terms of someone else receiving our gift and fully expecting that someone, whether it be the same person that we give to or not, will give us a gift in turn.
I think we should always expect to receive. Don't sell the bounty and generosity of other people short. Don't under-estimate the graciousness and grace-fullness of God either. People often say we shouldn't ask God for things all the time when we pray. I personally think God is ecstatic when we ask for this and that. That is the nature of the relationship between Him and us, Creator and creature, Provider and dependent, Father and child. God doesn't need placating. He doesn't need our praises, or our repentance. We praise Him because it is a human need to thank the one who provides for you (yes the one that gives). We offer our repentance because it is a human need to remove our guilt at misusing the things He has gifted us with.
So where is all this leading to? I want to receive gifts! :D
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