Have you seen Christmas?

"Have you seen Christmas?" was the innocent phrase I used to repeat when I was a young girl for a church play. I used to portray the role of a child who do not know what or who Christmas is. She searched for it under cars, bumped into alleys, and inside malls where shoppers were all so busy about. Yet, she never found what she was looking for. Every time somebody explains to her what Christmas is from their perspective, she would look away saying there's something deeper than all the material things there is. So she continues to find Christmas only to find it in an ordinary man whose name was unheard of in her life, who was born on Earth, gave up his life to show everybody that God's love is pure and eternal.

I understood my role every time I stepped out of the stage. I knew that it was all make believe, and those tears I shed were all for the people to see. Years after I still find myself being the young girl who does not know where Christmas is. You see, time has evolved so many things and everything seems to move in a swift manner. Sometimes I am lost in a trance which I do not understand amidst holiday shopping, parties, and off tune Christmas carols.

The weekend that passed was filled of late minute shoppers who wanted to grab everything off the rack because they were on discount. Others lounged to have the last pair of shoes, last stock of garment, or the last toy on display. It's like we are running out of objects to give to plus the pressure of finding a decent wrapper for it to be packaged in. I tried to dodge myself through the many people who were arguing and deciding on what to get for their loved ones. It was a disaster. Children whom they brought wailed every time a parent said no, or a mom would complain loudly about the cashier's slow pace. Even I couldn't understand what Christmas really was at that moment.

So I remind myself that Christmas is more than the expenses spent on gifts and food. It's pretty prevalent that on my previous entries I kept telling that Christmas is about the Child born and how we should commemorate His birth. Now that it's all a cliché, the greatest challenge now is how to survive the Christmas week.  It will be demanding and stressful just like how the other years went, yet I believe that it's all about perspective. How you view moments would allow you to see beyond the picture which you are complaining of.

There's only three days left but I don't care that my Christmas shopping is incomplete. Nobody said you have to always do it on December anyway. What matters most in this season is your ability to love and to be for each other. It is a reminder that you are not alone in this world and as an offshoot, you are to spend time with your loved ones for the holidays.

Now don't be glum. Don't be the sad little girl that I was years ago, crying in desperation looking for Christmas. We all have reasons to feel blue but in this season of giving and love, let's flash a smile, reach out a hand or give a hug. That could be the best gift in the world that you can share to the people closest to you this season.