The real meaning of Christmas
Perhaps my most memorable Christmas was in the mid '60s, after graduating from high school. I, then 16, and my cousins found ourselves stranded in Pangangan Island in Calape, Bohol. My uncle, who just retired from a soft drinks company, decided to buy a pump boat from Calape. There was my uncle and auntie, their two sons, myself, and three other cousins. All of us took a boat to Tubigon and from there took a jeepney to our destination. On December 23, 1967, the purchase was consummated and we started to sail from Tubigon heading to Argao, Cebu.
But after an hour we encountered strong winds and giant waves, which made uncle decide to turn back. Then our outboard motor conked out. We all had no experience sailing aboard motorized bancas and so, we just drifted, afraid, and confused, and we did not even have a compass to guide us. There were no cellphones then and no way to call for rescue. So, we just hung on, praying and hoping, until some fishermen rescued us. It was Christmas Eve, and we found ourselves lost, somewhere in Bohol.
The leader of the fishermen, Manoy Adiong, brought us to his home in Barangay Madangog, a humble house made of bamboo and nipa. There we spent Christmas 1967. Reflecting on it now, I think that was my most memorable Christmas ever. There, I realized one can feel the true meaning of Christmas with nothing but care and affection, respect and fellowship among the simplest people on earth. They did not even have a Christmas tree, Christmas lights, or even a lantern. No Christmas party, no exchanging gifts, no ham or turkey, not even meat on Christmas Day, just joys that burst out from the purity of loving hearts.
We feasted on sinugbang isda, tuba, and camote, and sang Cebuano and Boholano songs. No stress, no tension, no pressures, or worries. I could see from the faces of Manang Kadya, and their seven children that they were genuinely happy and spontaneously joyful. All they had as connection to the outer world was a transistor radio. The family lived below poverty line, but they lived richly with true care and affection for each other. In the '90s, when I was already based in Manila, I visited the family once again. Manang Kadya had passed away. Manoy Adiong was still strong and fishing and he remembered me well. I brought them some gifts, recalling how grateful we were not only for the rescue, but above all, for teaching us the real meaning of Christmas.
Today, many of us are lost at the sea of life, with too much materialism and secular consumerism. We need to be rescued by the gifts of simplicity and spontaneous joyfulness, which to me is the real meaning of Christmas. When all else loses meaning, I need to go back to Madangog, Pangangan, to experience the true message of Christmas once again.
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