A Celebration of the Holidays
Years before, we celebrate holiday seasons in a grand way. There were beautiful decorations, sparkling lights, festive foods and pretty dresses. Children are visiting form house to house to greet their relatives. It was also the event of the year where family members are reunited. Christmas and New Year, indeed, are the most awaited time of the year.
What signals this favorite time of year? For me, it is the breeze of the air and the music that can be heard everywhere. Filipino culture dictates how Filipino people are musically inclined. From folk song to natural instruments, form instrumentals to hard metals, from solo to choir competition… all of these only show how we love music and how music loves us. Not to mention the entrance of Karaoke singing trend. I remember my favorite Karaoke song which goes… “Looking through some old photographs, faces and friends we’ll always remember; watching busy shoppers rushing about, in the cool breeze of December…” Surely, Christmas will be a very happy celebration to remember.
But as time goes by, the celebration became less and less grand. Decorations are simpler, lights are less, foods are less extravagant and clothes are less expensive. I noticed that as one grows up, the less value he or she will give to these seasons and their true meaning. The essence of Christmas is diverted to the gifts people are about to receive and the New Year focuses more on the quality of celebration prepared by a household.
But I realized that Christmas and New Year are just the celebration of what we truly receive form God: that the true meaning of it is Christ Jesus whom the Father have sent us to reveal His unconditional love for us and a beautiful promise of tomorrow.
I am now contented with the simple way my family celebrate this season. In the crises that the world is encountering right now, peace and love will be the greatest gift I can give. I can start sharing this gift within my family. What is more important is that my family is complete and shares the same happiness I received form above. I’ll break the bonds of hatred within me and start a new life as the wonderful promise of God is brought by the year ahead.
Let us welcome Christ in our hearts and live Christmas and New Year not just in this season of the year but every day of our lives.