Wednesday, December 24, 2008 Sanchez: Joys of Christmases past By Benedicto Q. Sanchez Nature Speaks
THERE is a child stirring in me each Christmas. It floods my aging brain of joys of Christmases past.
I remember not the traditional season of playing songs in commercial establishments to entice people to overspend and attend pig-outs, euphemistically called Christmas parties.
Each time I hear a Christmas carol, it brings a lump to my throat. That is, if recorded by Danny Kaye, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby. I associate their Christmas recordings with family togetherness, memories of Dad, a widower at a relatively young age, who gallantly raised a brood of six.
I love the songs not because I like the singers but because they belong to Dad's generation. Like him, I appreciate listening to music.
The toys and new clothes are long gone. But the memories of the family Belén linger and are equal-if not more important-than the Christmas pine tree, the Christmas tradition of waking up at 5 a.m. not to race to open gifts but prepare for Holy Mass as a family.
Then the banter during the Christmas feast -- the Sánchez family and the househelp bingeing on the same goodies of high cholesterol meat and high calorie pastries.
While at that, I suspect that while the Christian significance of December 25 is fast being overshadowed with the highly commercial, secular celebration of Santa Claus, the tradition of over-indulgence on fatty foods will linger for generations -- come hypertension, heart attacks, heart failure, or arterial aneurysm.
I'm not a party-pooper; I admit to practicing that bad tradition. Heaven knows I was reared that way. I dispensed with many bad habits over the years, but not my taste for politically incorrect food on Christmas.
There was a time though that the good (or bad?) food, the gifts or spiritual significance didn't matter, at all. I celebrated not December 25th, the birth of the Prince of Peace, but the 26th, the birthday of an Asian warmonger. Then, I wished not for peace on earth, goodwill to humanity, but war, ill-will and destruction to the fortunate, well-off families. I endured lonely Christmases away from family.
Such was my folly of those dark years, jettisoning the timeless Christmas values of coming together in peace and love, forgiveness and reconciliation.
Politically incorrect food pales with politically bankrupt ideologies.
I have come full circle, bearing good riddance to a life not worth living. I have re-embraced the Christian values instilled-dinned-since my childhood. They remained rooted, provided the anchor for revisiting and reliving the joys of Christmases past.
I am inspired by the ideals of the Christ Child to do good for the least of our brethren not just on Christmas, but 24/7.
I spent the past two decades working with the rural hungry to help poor farmers attain food security and sustainable development. I joined the Philippine Mediation Center as a court-annexed mediator to help build bridges of peace among litigants. All these with a sense of fulfillment, despite the meager salaries.
With a new life, I'm looking forward to enjoying the Christmas of the present, and the Christmases of the future together with my family, whatever the economic crisis might hold in store for us.
