What is it about Christmas or the Yuletide season that brings out the best in many people? All throughout the year, there would be all sorts of differences, misunderstandings, and squabbles only to be relegated to the backseat when the season of merrymaking comes. All of a sudden, as if some magic wand cast a spell on earthlings, mankind becomes a little more kind, more generous, more solicitous, more gentle, and more patient.
Gone – well, at least temporarily – are the frayed nerves, the rantings when we do not get what we want or when we do not have our way, the insensitive comments that create hurt feelings, and the many obnoxious situations that usually get people in trouble because of their own making.
But, once December creeps into our lives, the world suddenly changes for the better – with or without the threat of the world ending very soon, as some soothsayers are wont to say year after year. The world, or at least the community that we revolve in, is transformed into a better, more peaceful place and we can only sigh and wish that the euphoria would last forever.
Such is not the case, of course, as we have known it. As we bid the year that has passed before our very eyes very fleetingly, we likewise welcome the brand-new year with much enthusiasm and a deeper resolve to do good or outdo ourselves to be better. Even if we do not know what the new year and the coming years would bring, our Christian faith teaches us that so long as there is life, there is hope.
It is hope that inspires us to move on and make a difference in other people’s lives. It is hope that tells us that despite the difficulties and challenges we face, it is still a beautiful world to live in. It is also hope that makes us cling to whatever is left of us as we grapple with life’s vicissitudes.
How do you elucidate hope on victims of calamities and disasters that have plagued the country lately, including our province? How do you explain hope to people desperate in the mad scramble for food and other relief items that otherwise are due them, but may have been shortchanged because of rampant corruption? Truly, is hope in the offing for people who have remained unemployed and have not managed to extricate themselves from the rut they are in?
If we go by the spirit of the Christmas season, which is awaiting the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, then that is hope. What better way to equate life’s difficulties than to think and wait for eternal rewards from our Savior and Redeemer. Side by side with hope is a strong faith in God and a positive outlook. It has been advised many times over by experts that adapting a positive attitude helps you cope with life in a better manner.
Whatever the coming year may bring, we take solace in the thought that we have undergone and overcome the things that have come our way this past year. There are always lessons learned from every situation, good or bad, and if we come out whole and unscathed, then hope springs eternal.
Let’s count our blessings and focus on the good things that we have experienced and learned from. If there were hardships – and they can come in various degrees and no one is exempt – let them be pillars of strength from which we can draw important lessons to guide us by.
You, dear readers, have journeyed with us through all these years, in good times and in bad. We can only thank you and wish you and your families all the best as we continue this journey called life. A blessed, peaceful, and prosperous New Year to one and all! | NWI
