When nothing seems to be happening

There is a famous poem about "the night before Christmas", when not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. (Candidates were stirring, however – they were all over the place.) Nobody, on the other hand, has much to say about today – the day of Christmas itself. Too many are nursing the hangovers they acquired from last night’s er . . . prayerful celebration.

Yet this is the morning when the sun should shine brightest – for Jesus has been born, to bring joy to the world.

The other day, preacher and inspirational thinker Harold Sala sent me his new book, Just For Today: Guidelines For Living. This volume, as in this prayerful man’s previous books, takes the reader from day to day, with apropos snippets from Scripture, nuggets of wisdom, and timely recollections of the past. Today, when nothing seems to be happening, I culled the following from one of his eloquent December homilies to remind you that exciting things are happening every day. The essay concluded "Today can be the best day of your life."

Sala starts with a news "flash" datelined "Holy Land" from correspondent St. Luke (2:10-11) of the Heavenly News Network (HNN). Luke reports: "The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."

"After Jesus’ birth," Sala narrates, "Mary and Joseph took Him and hid in Egypt for two years. Later they returned to Nazareth, where Jesus grew up. At age thirty, He went to the synagogue at Nazareth and read a selection from Isaiah which read, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and reco-very of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Luke 4:18-19)."

Sala remarked of Jesus: "He never studied in a university, yet He knew people better than they knew themselves. He healed the sick with a word. He touched blind eyes, and they saw. He opened deaf ears, and they heard. He merely gave the command and it took place."

Remember the prophecy that preceded Jesus’ coming by generations? "The blind see, the lame walk, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." (That thing about the lame "walking" was asserted millenniums ago, and did not refer to Erap Estrada.) Never mind that item about never having studied in a university, too.

Sala admonishes: "This year, rethink Christmas. Go beyond the veneer, and discover what really happened when the world thought nothing was happening."

Deep in our hearts, I feel it strongly, something exciting is happening. Yet, it’s too early to tell. On this day, I hope we will pledge ourselves to each other – to a renewed spirit, and a new day.

Once more, the prophet Isaiah promises that "those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint" (Isaiah 40:31).

Did you know that in early England it was a "crime" to print and distribute the Holy Bible – for only the experts, preachers and priests were entitled to explain the Bible to the people, particularly the ignorant and the poor. Now, the words of God are available to everyone, in multitudes of tongues, including our many dialects. The New Testament of Christ’s evangelists is The Good News. The Old Testament is the Holy Bible per se as dictated by God’s prophets to the Jews. Jesus brought God’s message to all nations, not just the Hebrew Chosen People. He came to tell us that we all – Gentiles included – had been Chosen by God, not merely the Jews.

When this writer interviewed David Ben-Gurion, the brilliant and doughty Founding Father of Israel (in his home in Tel Aviv, in 1966), Ben-Gurion teasingly quipped that the Christian "New Testament" was just "a work of fiction, written in very bad Greek". When he noticed me getting perceptibly irritated by that remark, he laughed and said: "I was just joking." Perhaps he was, perhaps he wasn’t. (Ben-Gurion, who subsequently died in his home kibbutz, sent me the next day a portrait of himself, in atonement (?), on which was scribbled, "To Max Soliven – in friendship." It hangs on my wall, and portrays that remarkable man looking every inch, bald on top, white hair splayed out on both sides, like an Old Testament prophet – which was what he truly was.)

A work of fiction? Certainly not. The Greek may have been bad, but the message was true. And will always be true.

* * *

I have a confession. I prefer the Mass said in my "boyhood" Latin. For Latin is what they call a "dead language", and when a language is dead, there is no possibility that a word, term, sentence or paragraph can be mysteriously "changed" to give it a new, deceptive meaning.

Nowadays, we play with words, using obfuscatory language to deceive and confound our readers and listeners. Yesterday, I heard one vice presidential wannabe declare on television that he would not run to another candidate to seek to become his vice-presidential runningmate if President GMA did not choose him for her V.P. In the next breath, though, when prodded by the ABS-CBN/ANC interviewer, Ms. Pia Hontiveros, the candidate pulled a switcherob by voicing the possibility he might consider switching parties in exchange for a V.P. slot.

You can’t have it both ways. Banca on two rivers simultaneously. Nail your flag to two masts, or even three. Alas, as I’ve said before, there is only one really consistent party, the Birthday Party.

In the Latin Mass, my favorite passage was the admonition uttered by the priest: Sursum corda! (Lift up your hearts!).

To which the congregation responds: Habemus ad Dominum1 (We have lifted them up to the Lord!).

Sursum corda, then, this Christmas Day.

The most-quoted fellow, a guy named Anonymous, once said: It is never too late to have a happy childhood. Have one now.

God bless you! (And me, too, I hope).