Christmas...

For the passed three days I have a total of 5 hours of sleep. One hour last tuesday, 2 hours last Wednesday and Thursday. And tonight, I'm sure I'll have less sleep than I really wanted. -_-

The Christmas season isn't really my favorite time of the year. All because of the hype the media and the public are giving it. The overly decorated houses and streets, that would either be filled with lights or stars or reindeers, the parties that people organize for reunions and the like that fills the streets with parked cars that you can't pass anymore, people who thinks that they can get away with anything all because of the season and of course, the carolling, the kris kringle, waking up early in the morning for simbang gabi. It's insane! It should be outlawed.

I used to love Christmas. There was a time when I really love looking at one house after another decorated with bright lights and stuff. I used to love the rush of christmas shopping, thinking of what to give to special people. I used to love listening to people singing christmas carols. And I can sacrifice the lack of sleep just to go to simbang gabi.

Why don't I like it anymore? Well, the spirit of Christmas isn't focus on the most important thing anymore. We forget that it's a season of rejoice and a season to be thankful for because our savior is born. While history tells us that Christ's birth falls on October and the reason why we celebrate it is because the Christians were trying to take away the pagan rituals during the Winter Solstice, we were used to this time and we celebrate it with the kind of solemnity that is very right for the occasion.

I was raised in a very Catholic family. While I grew up believing in Santa Clause, I only remember him when I go to sleep on December 24 because I know that come morning, he'll leave me a gift in that bag I left the night before. He's never really the center of the season for me that time. Our family was really centered on making the season about the baby Jesus and how his birth marks the start of our beliefs. I was brought up understanding that the season was all about him. That we should be ready to receive him and that he's the reason why we have this season in the first place. It was never about presents. It was never about decorations. It was never about knowing all the names of the reindeers. It was never about the guy in the big red suit. It was about a child, born in a manger, wrapped in swabbling clothes, the only people who knew that he was there were shepards watching over their sheeps. It was about God sending his son to save us.

People these days see Christmas as recieving a hefty sum for their 13th month and bonuses. They see it as a time to be nice when the whole year they were bitches and bastards. They see it as a time to exploit people's kindness because it is after all the season of giving.

Every year as I was growing up, Christmas was becoming just another occasion. Just another way to get overtime. Just another reason to get stressed with what to give and who to give it to. It has become something that I want to finish as soon as it started. It has become something that I am beginning to despise.

It really sickens me when you approach a kid and ask him who's birthday it is we're celebrating and they don't know. It pains me to hear kids singing Christmas carols not meaning what they sing or just singing to get money. It hurts to know that kids are being good because Santa Clause will be giving them good presents. It saddens me to see that a lot of decorations are mostly about Santa Clause, reindeers and snowmen when we should be focusing on the Holy Family and the pilgrimage that they did. It really hurts to know that no one remembers the real reason why we celebrate Christmas.

It's Christmas eve. It's never too late to change your perspective of the season. The last day to focus on the most important thing.

Be ready to recieve him tonight.