A "Perfect" Christmas?
When I was a kid, I LOVED Christmas. I still do. When I was a kid, Christmas was that magical day of the year when you actually got what you wanted. It was about Santa, snow, presents, and yes...Jesus in the manger. For me, Christmas was the perfect day of year because everything and everyone I loved was in the same place. Christmas is always marketed and seen as that one day out of the year that love, joy, and good tidings to all mankind are the themes of the day.
While Hollywood, the retail stores, and even the Christians are trying to promote Christmas as a perfect day...I see things a bit differently. Now that I am older, and as things are much more complicated than when I was a kid, I realize that Christmas is not meant to be perfect. It's about perfecting the imperfect.
If you look at the Nativity Story, the very first Christmas was not perfect at all. Imagine you traveled literally thousands of miles on foot or by donkey (if you were lucky) while dodging hordes of soldiers trying to kill your unborn child and your wife is about to go into labor...and the only place you can have her give birth and stay in for the night is a barn filled with farm animals and horseshit. Your family isn't even there to spend the night with you. Instead, it's some shepherds and three random dudes who bring gold, frankincense, and myrrh as gifts to your kid (how a baby is supposed to play with that is beyond me). The first Christmas was ANYTHING BUT perfect. But, Christmas is not about the atmosphere or even the circumstances around you...it's about finding the joy in what you already have with the people around you.
We all have problems. They could be family issues. They could be relationship issues. There are some people who are forced to work on this day due to their profession. There are others who are alone on this day due to loss of a loved one or simply because they have no where to turn to. We all have battles we have to deal with, and unfortunately, they do not take a vacation on Christmas Day. But again, Christmas is not about perfect circumstances or "warm fuzzy feelings". It is about finding the perfection from what you have and choosing to develop those "warm fuzzy feelings" through recognizing the abundance in your life...being thankful and happy for what you have as opposed to what you don't have. For me, this is what having a "Merry Christmas" is all about.
On this day, I wish Maligayang Pasko to you and yours. Merry Christmas!
While Hollywood, the retail stores, and even the Christians are trying to promote Christmas as a perfect day...I see things a bit differently. Now that I am older, and as things are much more complicated than when I was a kid, I realize that Christmas is not meant to be perfect. It's about perfecting the imperfect.
If you look at the Nativity Story, the very first Christmas was not perfect at all. Imagine you traveled literally thousands of miles on foot or by donkey (if you were lucky) while dodging hordes of soldiers trying to kill your unborn child and your wife is about to go into labor...and the only place you can have her give birth and stay in for the night is a barn filled with farm animals and horseshit. Your family isn't even there to spend the night with you. Instead, it's some shepherds and three random dudes who bring gold, frankincense, and myrrh as gifts to your kid (how a baby is supposed to play with that is beyond me). The first Christmas was ANYTHING BUT perfect. But, Christmas is not about the atmosphere or even the circumstances around you...it's about finding the joy in what you already have with the people around you.
We all have problems. They could be family issues. They could be relationship issues. There are some people who are forced to work on this day due to their profession. There are others who are alone on this day due to loss of a loved one or simply because they have no where to turn to. We all have battles we have to deal with, and unfortunately, they do not take a vacation on Christmas Day. But again, Christmas is not about perfect circumstances or "warm fuzzy feelings". It is about finding the perfection from what you have and choosing to develop those "warm fuzzy feelings" through recognizing the abundance in your life...being thankful and happy for what you have as opposed to what you don't have. For me, this is what having a "Merry Christmas" is all about.
On this day, I wish Maligayang Pasko to you and yours. Merry Christmas!
posted by Mike Pana at
8:54 AM
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