Christmastime is here again. Everywhere we go we are greeted by the season’s decorations and adornments. Everywhere we go we see the image of this one person over and over again.
Who is that one person who popularly embodies this season? A jolly old man with a great white beard, dressed in red, who goes around on a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer, giving gifts to children all over the world.
But the real reason for the season is the man who is usually delegated second place in terms of popularity because people can’t see him past Santa Claus. Who is that person? Jesus Christ.
For many of us, Christmas has become more about the vacation time, the company parties, the private celebrations, the family gatherings and, most of all, the gift-giving and gift-getting, and less of the religious significance of the occasion.
And we can’t exactly be blamed for this. Because it has been a turbulent year in terms of national politics, world events, and even the climate, it’s easy for us to forget the real reason for Christmas and celebrate by just making ourselves and others happy.
But we should never forget that Christmas began as the celebration of the birth of the savior, nothing more and nothing less. The merrymaking, the gathering with friends and families, the gift-giving, the commercialization of it all all came much later.
This commercialization of Christmas is both good and bad; good because it calls attention to the season and also bad because it draws attention away from the real reason for the season. It also added more elements that make the occasion even more confusing for us Filipinos; like snow, the mistletoe, and other things that were never part of the traditional Christmases celebrated.
But we aren’t here to judge, because all of us are prone to falling into this trap.
This Christmas season let us do our best to always look past Santa Claus to see the man whose season it truly is.
Merry Christmas, everyone!