Pasko

It's that time of the year again. Yep. As a matter of fact, we've all been reminded of this upcoming event around 2 to 3 months ago. And to some, perhaps even earlier than that. It's that single holiday event that is religiously celebrated by so many. And I could easily understand why that is and the appeal it has to people on a religious and/or commercial level. Christmas is that occasion when happiness, sharing, family and love are celebrated. Not to mention, the commercialism behind it as well. Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, you cannot deny the massiveness of it and the impact it has in the world as a whole. And it's that time of the year again. Time to get merry.

(We call these things 'parol'. Lanterns, essentially.)

Christmas to me is something more of a religious celebration than anything else. After all, it is supposedly the birth of Catholicism's iconic character; Jesus Christ. As a born Catholic, although one can easily question my religiousness and devotion, December 25 is when Jesus was born and the son of God was brought to us through immaculate conception by Mary of Jerusalem. The story behind this event is famous and you don't need to be Catholic to know it. It's a common knowledge. I remember my grand parents would not even have a Christmas tree most of the time. If we had one, it would be that rare. What we would usually have is a diorama of some sort depicting the birth of the Catholic messiah, along with the three wise men, Mary and Joseph. And some animals to go along with them. A star and a stable where He was supposedly given birth.
It is a strong image and one that still sticks to me up to this day. Although I am not as religious as I used to be, I cannot deny the fact that I was raised in such a way and whether I like it or not, I am Catholic and I will always will be. It's quite unfortunate that I have turned this way. But it's not like I have no fear of a higher being. I just have questions and these questions have not yet been fully answered in a logical way.

This annual occasion isn't something I celebrate anymore though. Nowadays, well, the past few years, I've treated December 25th as just some regular day. But of course, you cannot simply avoid Christmas. It is everywhere. Specially when you live in a city. There are attempts to replace Christmas with 'holiday', but it's just plain undeniable and futile to even try doing so. It is only an attempt to cater to all religious and cultural diversity we have in the world now. And I understand that. Some might find it offensive to even hear about Christmas, so I suppose calling it a holiday is a good way of going about it to avoid conflict.
Another Christmas is passing by and it's just another day to me. Same shit, different day.

However, I remember back then when I used to live with my grand parents. Christmas was such an extravagant occasion. There would be food, tons of them. Gifts, gifts, some other gifts and more gifts. It was fascinating and almost magical to me as a kid. And exciting too since it meant I would have a chance to get something cool. All my grand parents' children would be there along with my mom. It was a family gathering, a family event. My cousins would be there and relatives might even drop by to greet us a merry Christmas. There would be lechon and there would be lots of visitors. And sometimes, we would do the same. Visit my grand parents' brothers or sisters. It was a fun and quite of a dear celebration. I miss those days but I know for a fact that they will never ever happen again. Not now since my grand parents have passed away. It's sad, but true. Maybe someday, I can have a family to celebrate Christmas with. if that was the case, I'd actually bother preparing for it.