Christmas in Polaroid
December 23, 2022
By Joana Marie Cruz, UPCM Class 2024
“Ho ho ho ho, Merry Christmas!” The most wonderful time of the year is here. All Christmas lights have been hung. All gifts have been wrapped. Christmas trees have been set up. And Christmas cheers are now the ones that wake us up. Christmas, without a doubt, is a season we all look forward to, filled with joy, hope, and love. A season for togetherness, sharing, and giving.
The Christmas spirit can be seen and felt everywhere, even in places we least expect it - from corridors that seem dark and quiet, to the streets that are filled with cars, street lights and jeepneys, the houses that look so dull and boring, and even the hospitals where grief and hardship surround.
Despite these difficult times, Christmas gives us hope, quite like magic. Gloomy places light up, which brings joy to the people as well. As a prelude to this year’s Christmas celebration, here are some daily reminders of how beautiful the Christmas season is.
Celebrating a birthday
Simbang gabi is part of our Filipino Christmas culture where we attend a nine-day series of masses in anticipation of the birth of Jesus Christ. We express our gratitude and reflect on the year that has passed and pray for the new year that is coming.
Wishing to the stars
Christmas trees are symbols of an everlasting hope that people will continue giving and sharing. Each branch may hold gifts and decorations, with the highest one holding the star, reminding us that even at the darkest of times, giving and sharing is the one that will give us pure joy and happiness.
Turning on the lights
Christmas parols give us light and hope during the Christmas season.
Wrapping it up with a ribbon
The joy of preparing and receiving gifts for our monitos and monitas is what makes giving gifts during Christmas special.
Singing a Merry Christmas
“We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year.” Christmas is when we feel most alive with people extending words of cheer, knocking door-to-door and singing the happiest songs of Christmas.
From setting up our Christmas trees to singing Christmas carols, Christmas never fails to give light in the darkest places, to give hope to the ones that needed company, and to bring peace in times of chaos and suffering. Indeed, it is always a Merry Christmas!