Do You Believe in Santa Claus?

 There are three stages in our life:

 

The first stage : we believe in Santa Claus

The second stage : we do not believe in Santa Claus

The third stage : we are the Santa Claus

 

I practically grew up in a family that do not observed with strict obedience the commercialized trappings of Christmas. Aside from going to Simbang Gabi, nothing was special for us other than the thought that it’s Christ’s birthday. This is so because of the financial hard-ups which seemed to court us through so many Christmases. How can we afford a decent Medya Noche and exchanges of gifts when our house was devastated by a yearender super typhoon?

 

Once when I was a kid, I was amused with my classmates who keep on bragging among themselves the gifts they received from Santa Claus. They received beautiful toys and money, to my envy. So, the next Christmas, I put a sock on our window anticipating Santa will stop and put a toy on it. When I woke up in the morning, I opened up my sock and found two pieces of suman and two peso coins. I was astounded to discover Santa Claus could make suman, all the way from the North Pole. I was so deeply disappointed I expected so much Santa would bring me a better gift than what my classmates had received.

 

Now that I am a young adult, I realized maybe that was the only thing Santa could afford me at that time. Now I realized more than anything else, Santa has given me a better life for me to take on.

 

Today, I am at the third stage of my life. Probably, the hardest of the three stages as you have no other choice but to give,give, and give more, especially with the ever-rising costs of toys and the decreasing value of peso.

 

Who do you think among your inaanaks would still be happy with twenty-peso bill?

 

Last week, I was in the tiangge. It was a big sale day. My five hundred pesos have to come up with twelve gifts for my godchildren. And you know what I’ve got, I was arguing with the tindera over the price of the gift wrappers, which no longer come for free as it used to be.

 

Geez! Christmas is just really for the kids to enjoy and for us adults to agonize with our budgets. 

 

I believe Jesus Christ never wanted these. What He wanted really is to simply celebrate His birth with prayers of thanksgiving for all the wondrous things that happened in the whole year. Isn’t it He chose to lay down on a manger to be a reminder of the simplicity of the event?

 

Do I still believe in Santa Claus?

 

The concept accompanying the existence of Santa Claus is still believable though Santa Claus is, as for me, only a creation of the commercialized world. Taken to the extreme, Santa Claus may invite greed and materialism, which Jesus as we know would not allow.

 

No matter what, Santa Claus should always be present in each one of us. He should be present in a child and the baby Jesus in us. Always be reminded about the spirits Santa Claus bring us: the joy of giving and the gratefulness of receiving.

 

Over the streets, I can see several images of Santa Claus. Some are made of plastics. I can also observed faked snows and Christmas trees. I just wish this Christmas I can find something real. (12-24-03)