It’s Christmas Time

Note: This is from the archives. This was a piece I wrote back in college. 14 years ago and I was already standing on my soapbox.

Someone said that the tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he still lives. It’s Christmas time and many are dead.

It is Christmas – a time when men bask in the spirit of giving, caring and hoping; a season when people all over commemorate the coming of our lord; an annual miracle. It is marked by lights glittering in every household, trees adorned with assorted garlands soaring up high into the sky, and carols sung joyously on every radio. It is a cool season heated by warm greetings all over.

But there’s another world outside: a world of dread, fear, anxiety and despair. A world where men’s refuge are the sidewalks. And here they sleep, hugged by the coldness of the pavement, blanketed by the shivery dampness of the night, unmindful of the perils of the dark. And in the morning their bodies will be burned by the scorching heat of the sun. All these while their bodies and souls ache for nourishment and thirst for something that will quench their desire, their desire for a better life.

We give our son a brand new Power Ranger toy this Christmas and we see the joy brightly shining in his eyes. We give old clothes and cheap plastic toys to a poor child and we imagine the same glimmer in his eyes.

We spend grandiosely on food and drinks, pat each other on the back, congratulating one another for a fruitful year that led to a better Christmas. We smile as we hear the trickle of coins, the Rizal’s that we hand down to dirtied hands, satisfied that we have done our civic and Christian duty and that we have the Christmas spirit in us and we imagine that they’ll have a better Christmas for what we have done.

Whoever said that in the eyes of a child there is joy, there is laughter, there is hope, there is trust had a different set of children in mind.

If we believe that justice has been served, that the economy is doing well, that housing projects are going on smoothly, that life after all is worth living, then let us spend a day on the street. Under the noon heat, half naked, let us stretch our arms and inhale the sweet, sweet Manila air. With the stinging sensation in our skin, let us embark on an adventure: riding a jeep and wiping the shoes of the passengers here; scurrying along busy streets while singing the same old carols and cleaning windshields there. At night, on a half full stomach, let us lie on a cardboard and savor nature’s air conditioning.

Yet there is an aspect of this holiday that can make use forget our successful states or our furious fates. There is a facet of this season that can wipe out materialism, then greed, then hate. There is something about this festivity that transcends mere merrymaking, something that makes all men equal. It is actually someone. It is Christ.

If only we can resist the hate, the greed, the materialism, then probably Christmas will be better. Christmas will be better.

Through Christ, let’s bring back the joy, the laughter, the hope, the trust.