Christmas past and present

CEBU, Philippines – Through time, people regard Christmas as a solid religious and socio-cultural tradition. Well, to some extent, it is - particularly on the religious side. But the solid fact is, Christmas has been continually undergoing many transformations.

Young people today may think that Christmas in the present is simply a continuation of the Christmas of their elders. It might surprise them to know that the Christmas of today resembles very little of the Christmas of 50 years ago. And 50 years is such a short time for a tradition that spans more than 2,000 years.

Older people say that today's Christmas is less meaningful. It is no longer as much celebrating the birth of Christ as having superficial fun. Christmas now is generally taken mainly as a happy time of get-togethers over abundant food and intoxicating drinks. Christmas, many would say, is the season to get a little loose and party!

Christmas has since become one big retailers' party. As money becomes quite abundant from the extras that companies give their workforce at Christmastime, the business establishments take advantage. Retail stores come up with promotions and "sale" events.

Business really bubbles up during the Christmas season. Some stores even want to lengthen some more the already long Philippine Christmas. They start playing Christmas songs in their establishments as early as September. People tend to get into the spending mood when they hear Christmas tunes, especially the merry ones.

And, true, people spend great amount of time shopping. The association of Christmas with gifts prods people to buy. People buy gifts - for themselves and for loved ones; there's money to spend anyway. Christmas today is highly commercialized.

Christmas 50 years ago was more spiritual than commercial. The celebration was more about spreading goodwill. It was a time when misunderstandings and disputes were resolved - in the spirit of the season. It was a better gift to give of one's time for a friendly conversation than offer something from the store.

Those Christmases long past were less in noisy revelries and more in sentimental meaning. But those were happy celebrations, just the same. Everyone was happy - those who had more were happy to share their abundance, and the recipients of their kindness were happy too.

The Christmas decorations then were mostly sourced from whatever could be found around the house. The stem of a mature maguey flower made the best Christmas Tree. And the "parol" of the past was not bought from a store - it was often homemade by collaborative effort of family members.

And the treats offered to neighborhood carolers were not factory-made candies, but sweets cooked with love and care right in the home kitchen. Firewood was often used to cook those homemade delicacies that were a fixture in Christmas gatherings.

Today, Christmas cooking makes use of automatic electric home equipment, which greatly cuts preparation and cooking time. And so there's more time for homecoming family members to engage in conversation. But sadly, most of today's young people prefer to have time alone with their gadgets, instead - "to each his own."

And yet Christmas remains to be a significant celebration for all. The season brings a kind of joy that's hard to explain. Maybe it's everyone's anticipation of the fun events that traditionally unfurl at this time of the year.

Or maybe it's more than that. Many of those who won't go to any of the merry Christmas events feel the joy, too. Maybe it's really about the good news that the prophets of old had foretold - the coming of the One to show a world gone astray the way back "home."

At Christmas, then and now, people rich and poor and young and old are happy, kind and generous. They know the feeling. But they don't know why.