I dusted off my old Christmas lantern two weeks ago to help set the holiday mood.
It shone bright (despite a busted bulb on one side) after plugging it, but as I switched its light control on, I heard a ‘pftt’ and the brightness was reduced to a weak, faint glow.
Finally, after over 15 years of Yuletide use, my lantern is getting into ‘retirement’.
As I wrote in my column in December last year, through the years, the old star-shaped lantern – its plastic covering still intact – has been giving my porch a faithful blink and flicker during those cool nights of December.
The lantern’s a product of the craft of Provincial Jail inmates when the facility was still located at Gatuslao Street, where a mall stands today.
With the retirement of my lantern, the thought I wrote last year reverberates – where are the hands that crafted it now? Have they been freed? Or had they already passed away? Or still serving sentence elsewhere?
I know that the lantern-making tradition among persons deprived of liberty continues locally and in many parts of the country with malls providing them space to display and sell the products of their enterprise and creativity.
To many of us who have been owners of their handiwork, the lanterns are not only products sold for their own subsistence and that of their families. They are also symbols of hope – for a reformed and renewed life behind and beyond the bars later when they have served their terms.
Indeed, they are glowing testaments of the second-time opportunities provided for those who have become law offenders and are redirecting their lives toward rehabilitation and productivity in their lives.
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On Christmas Eve, I plan to plug my old lantern for one, short time.
No more blinking and dancing lights. This time, I just need a faint glow – enough to remind me of that night over 2,000 years ago – of the rhyme and reason of the coming of our Lord, who declared in John 8:12: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
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One global event worth observing will take place two days before Christmas.
The observance is Roots Day (Dec. 23), an occasion for one to care for his or her ancestry.
For those who have not been aware of their lineage beginnings, the day is an opportune time to research on their respective families.
It is also a great time to know interesting stories about the family. Online sources today provide information previously inaccessible.
Enjoy your Roots Day discoveries.
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A blessed and peaceful Christmas to friends, readers and supporters of NEGROS WEEKLY and Negros NOW Daily. | NWI
