Just a few more days before Christmas, everyone is on shopping mode - either for gifts to give or for the noche buena. The city is bustling, traffic is becoming terrible and the long queue for public vehicles seems endless. Grabbing a ride home seems impossible next to survival. Cash is flowing left and right. Christmas carols heard on the streets but are never really felt, just for compliance's sake in exchange for a few coins.
On a dark December night, I stepped outside to feel the breeze. Yes, it is the same cold that reminds me of my childhood years. It was the same chill that taught me to be brave being alone amidst the holiday rush. I was firm enough to stand alone on my feet even at a very young age beating the Christmas rush with my violin straddled against my back. I was not quite sure if there was anything to eat for Christmas eve but the music on my fiddle already got me by.
How I miss this easy life. As a young woman, I saw Christmas as a money-making season where I could earn at least a thousand pesos per night for just a couple of songs with the sounds of my strings. It was an honor bringing smiles to the faces of many as my voice sang the sweetest Christmas carols. Music was just the universal language of everything and everyone.
But more than just music is the song of life, the song which speaks of why Christmas really exists. I am reminded of an old song that always grips my heart whenever it is played, "We are the reason that he gave his life, we are the reason He suffered and died." Reading the words to the music, it is seemingly far off the merry feel, but actually, Christmas really is about Jesus Christ who came to live with us and died so we could all be saved.
The thought of it sounds so cheesy and even a little bit too "religious" but Christmas really is about our faith to Jesus Christ. This is not just a season to celebrate because of the holidays marked as red on the calendar. It is a reminder for the gift of life given to us even if we do not deserve it for free.
It is all so commercialized - Santa Claus, reindeers, snowman and the list goes on. None of these are in actual relation to the truth of Christmas. The miracles of the Lord as manifested before the gospel is why this season came to be. When Mary became pregnant despite her virginity and found a place to stay despite a weary night is a story worth telling to the next generation. Jesus' birth and His life is a tale that has no end.
Hopefully, we get rid of the notion of Christmas being a season for shopping and snow (aside from the fact that we do not have snow in our country). It is not even about who gets to hold a hand despite the withering cold. Life as it is given to you by the Lord because of Grace is Christmas' essence. If there was no grace involved by the Lord, Jesus would not have been brought down from heaven and there would be no season of giving.
A handful of holidays unfold before those who get to enjoy the privilege; use it wisely. Forget about doing things that would render one futile. Reflect and get to know the real meaning of why December is as festive as it is.