Christmas: Why It Could Doesn’t Make Sense Anymore?

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd Quezon, CALABARZON


Count down for Christmas has started.  With this, though I’m practically a Christian being a practicing Catholic, I am beginning to be uncomfortable with Christmas anymore.  Particularly here in our country and may be, the rest of the world.  Besides of it being too long, I just simply feel that it doesn’t make sense now.

To think that early on every September, Christmas, the materialistic feature attached to it by no other than secular or pagan culture has to be in the air.  Has its real meaning essence already been replaced by flashy material things further made complicated by evolution of fancy gadgets succumbing and addicting many?

Even if the religious, the leaders of various Christian denominations have been constant in reminding their flocks of its real meaning, their constant prodding seems to be or has continuously been falling on deep ears.

At present, to think of Christmas having nothing is unthinkable, for everybody, even the least fortunate will squander anything just to make their Christmas get along until New Year.  For some particularly the slum dwellers complemented it by gifts they receive from the gift giving projects of churches, the affluent, even politicians who take this as an opportunity to advance their ambitions.  Indigents in urban centers are receiving gifts while their counterparts in far flung areas remain untouched in destitution thus encouraging them to left for or migrate to cities as well while those who are already there are encouraged to stay in their inhumane dwellings.

I was reminded of our ‘kapit bahay’ in our barangay who happens to have a residential place to stay in a slum in our provincial capital city.  Every Christmas season, they left our barangay to stay with her husband who happens to be working there as a driver for according to her, they receive a lot of gifts not only from charity but even from the city government.  It’s more than enough to have for Christmas until New year.

With the amount of money set aside purely for fun, for self satisfaction and gratification, with no spiritual value at all, will God still happy about it?  And after all the glares and festive mood end, what are all left particularly for those who are just trying to make both ends meet?  What about to the struggling bourgeois and middle class?

This end result shows how media has become successful and powerful in setting the value system, even culture of the people.  Media has successfully emerged itself to be one of the institutions of society who’s power has threaten the very foundation of the family, the church or religion, and government.

One thing is certain; media is the main culprit why Christmas doesn’t seem to make sense anymore.  Media is the one who has contributed much to this mess.  It should help initiate and rectify these errors.