Alone time

Sunday – 12:52 p.m. Eight hours from now, my wife Karen and daughter Hannah will excitedly be boarding KLM flight 808 for the Netherlands. This time, the circumstances are joyous as it will be a long awaited reunion with my wife’s only remaining blood relatives: her brother and sister and their respective families. As far as my daughter is concerned the success of this adventure is hinged on whether she actually gets to see: “Snow! Oh Glorious SNOW!”

Realizing, I will once again be spending Christmas away from my “girls” several friends have already extended heart-warming invitations to have a meal with them or to meet up sometime in the middle of the Christmas holidays. I find this touching because we all know just how stressful and hectic personal and family schedules can be during Christmas. It actually reminds me of how the “Inn keeper actually went out of his way to “find room” for Mary and Joseph, even resorting to bringing them to the manger. Far from mistreating them, he actually made time for them, leaving behind an Inn full of customers to aid a couple in distress.

This year will be the second year I spend Christmas away from my family. Last year I had the special privilege of spending Christmas in an evacuation center with the victims of Typhoon Sendong in Cagayan de Oro. Last year I was also blessed with an additional family namely the Sisters of St. Paul in CDO.

This year, as my wife and daughter reconnect with their Dutch roots, I get to reconnect with my Mom and my siblings since most of us have reached the point where we only meet up for birthdays, holidays, needs, and funerals. Tonight and in the days to come, it might be a good idea to intentionally make time or find time, to spend alone time with the people who really matter. Ask and listen how they really are, help if they need help and celebrate if they have cause. But most important is to avoid small talk. It’s bad enough that we don’t get to spend enough time with each other. We should at least have quality time and agree when the next time will be.

Speaking of reunions, I can’t help noticing that a lot of people and families will be spending time around a Karaoke machine desperately trying to sing like “Adele”, Cold Play, Taylor Swift or Rod Stewart. But unlike days of old, I rarely, rarely, find families actually singing yuletide carols together. Often times, if not most of the time, someone will sing a Christmas carol like a performance in a talent show, but not as part of a family Christmas tradition.

This year, while attending several Christmas parties, I noticed that instead of extravagance and materialism, several companies chose to be austere, traditional yet meaningful by way of highlighting the many ways Filipinos celebrate Christmas. One of the best was when the HARI group/ Hyundai called on Maestro Ryan Cayabyab and his Chorale to showcase Filipino Christmas songs. Call me old or traditional, but when you sing Filipino Christmas songs you don’t have to imagine snowflakes, chestnuts or a gang of reindeers that would make PETA denounce Santa Claus. Whether you prefer western of Filipino carols, I think it would be a good idea if we all gathered around to sing the songs of celebration, the songs of adoration and the songs that angels sang as they brought us “ Tidings of Comfort and Joy”.

It will bring back memories of the days we went caroling at school, in church or from house to house before government banned or regulated it. As the singing refreshes our memories, I’m certain that it will also create new memories for our children and the next generation. They may call it but insist on it anyway, because one day they will be thanking us for giving them something to remember and something to observe.

Speaking of Angels and glad tidings, that, is something worth copying. Tonight on Christmas Eve or sometime during the Noche Buena, take time to bring glad tidings of comfort, of joy, of gratitude, and of hope. Speak life into each and every person’s life, who ever you will be with tonight. That was the whole idea that night, two thousand plus years ago. God sent his only begotten son to give us hope, to give us life and to give us joy. Just to make sure some people understood the idea, he sent prophets hundreds of years before the fact to teach generations of “believers” about the Messiah. And then on the night of the big reveal, GOD sent a host of angels to do the big launch, and as an after launch, he sent a caravan of GOD-seeking wise men to spread the news. At the very least, we should help spread the goodwill towards men, women and children, most especially our family.

Finally, when all the gifts have been unwrapped, when the fiesta and the food become leftovers, and all the adrenalin driven activities have come to a stop, please don’t forget to find Alone time with GOD. You can do it in church, alone in your room, driving on the highway or wherever you can get away to.

We all need alone time with GOD. That’s when we say sorry for scrambling the relationship and the communications. That’s when we get to say the often-unexpressed “GOD I Love You!” More importantly that’s the best gift we can actually give  “FOR GOD ONLY”: Alone time with him, to listen to him, to be with him, because that’s what Christmas is really all about, GOD finding a way to be with us, in spite of us.

Don’t feel lonely, sad or depressed this Christmas. You’re never alone; you simply need to use your alone time with GOD. Merry Christmas and thank you very much for reading my work, for your patience when you don’t agree with me, for your prayers and especially for believing. GOD BLESS.

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