Sunday, December 21, 2008

Arrgh!!! So Many Things To Do!!!

It is supposed to be the “most wonderful time of the year!” But why are we so busy? So stressed? In between our regular workload, school, and family obligations, we still have several hours long of shopping to do, gifts to wrap and deliver, heavy traffic congestion to contend with when we visit our loved ones and close friends, write letters and cards to our family and relatives who live far away, attend (and host) the obligatory office parties, neighborhood get-togethers, barkada parties, church socials, school programs…

Add to the fact that everybody is experiencing some sort of financial crunch. Business is slow and difficult; jobs have no security. No wonder many of us would wish to be Scrooges at this time of the year.

Do you know that when Jesus arrived on earth as a baby during the first Christmas, the situation was no different from the one we are experiencing at the moment? It was a busy time in Bethlehem as they were conducting the census. People from all over the empire were traveling to their ancestral hometown. They were probably jostling each other for souvenirs to buy and take away, spaces to rest and sleep, as well as sites to see. (That was why there was no more space in the inn for the God of the universe to be born.) Nobody realized, nobody noticed the birth of a Baby who would be the Savior of the world; except for a few shepherds.

Are you like the innkeeper, who was busy attending to his guests that he relegated the Baby to the manger? Are you one of those people, who are busy buying and sightseeing that they did not notice the special Baby at all? Or are you one of the shepherds, who upon hearing the good news, dropped everything important just to see and visit the Christ Child?

This is the season to remind ourselves that Christ came to earth to bring peace, joy, love, salvation. It is time to change our priorities and perspectives as well. Learn to quiet down and seek Him, so that we may be able to make this season truly the most wonderful time of the year!

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