Holiday Musings

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The year 2013 will soon end...and I suddenly think, where did all that time go?  In fact, it's more like...where did all those years go?  Like the song Sunrise, Sunset in the musical Fiddler on the Roof (with a little twist)..."I don't remember growing older...when did I? Wasn't it yesterday, When I was small?"


Although we do gather for the New Year, it is not the main event of our holiday season.  In my family, what is important are Advent and Christmas and these are what we celebrate.  The usual gift giving tradition still happens since I have a little girl, but I teach her that all her gifts come from Jesus, and Santa Claus is just the delivery man. After all, Christmas is not about the material gifts but the time to celebrate God's gift of love and redemption...the life of the child Jesus...in the words of Isaiah, "For a child is born to us, a son is given to us."

"For a child is born to us, a son is given to us"


As for the New Year?  Well,  for me and my family, it's just the day after the 31st, so basically we just greet it with tokens of all the superstitious beliefs that surrounds the beginning of a new year.  Although New Year's Eve is also the time for reunions with friends and family from my mom's side, it's not a significant event for us.  Truth is, now-a-days every new year just makes me feel a little melancholic because it signifies the passing of time.  I guess as one gets older, time becomes more precious and it reminds me to cherish my family more, to appreciate what I have, to live a simpler life and do away with the non-essentials, to stop and smell the roses and above all, to trust God and surrender my life to Him.


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