The Instinct of the Poor to Share , A Christmas Message

[norma dollaga]

http://patentero.wordpress.com/2012/12/22/the-instinct-of-the-poor-to-share-a-christmas-message-2/

   

 The Instinct of the Poor to Share  , A Christmas Message

 

From afar I saw him  waiting for the Christmas gift and packed lunch. He is so skinny  that it is only his belt that holds his old short pants from falling from his waist. In fact the size of his shorts and his shirt are too large for him that his uniform seem to be swallowing him. His eyes are pinned  on the bags of gifts  as if they will disappear the moment he take away his eyes from them.

 

The most awaited time came. Children orderly queued  to get the gifts prepared by the Promotion of Church  People’s Response(PCPR) . This little boy shyly but happily received the gift bag and a packed lunch. He slowly opens the  bag and steals a look on whatever is inside the bag and the lunch. Then he  carefully placed the packed lunch inside the bag and knots the handle. He  quietly  stays put on his chair. I approached him, touching his back but I was too careful because his bones seem to be too fragile . I asked, “ Are you not going to eat your lunch?”  His tiny voice was so powerful enough to send a heart warming message. This what he said, “ I would bring this to my siblings and mother. We will eat this together.”

 

The instinct to share and to give love is  not something the young kids among  poor communities   discuss and debate on.  They just do it  without  much fuss. They can always sacrifice whatever they receive  without feeling of being heroes. The boy is just one of them. A lot of them did the same. Some ate their lunch because they came to school without breakfast. Others have saved the half portion so that their siblings have something to eat as their “pasalubong.”     

 

The teachers who have the first-hand knowledge about the children’s predicaments informed us that the children they have chosen to receive our gifts are the poorest among the poor students of Gregorio del Pilar Elementary School  in Tondo . Most of them are  scavengers, street  vendors, or children from homeless families.

 

I was thinking, if  Jesus, the one whose birth we are celebrating in our contemporary time today,  is in our midst, maybe he would be one of those kids lining up for the Christmas bag and lunch . I guess he would also share whatever he received from his parents-,  Mary and Joseph.  

 

This led me to ponder on the way Christmas is observed today.

 

While we believe  that the season is an opportune time to  deeply reflect on the meaning of Christ’s birth, the holiday rush and the commercialization of Christmas become the primary fascination.   Alas, the unbecoming of Christmas occur  when it is equated with money that  has  now greater  and powerful command in a consumerist society.  Mothers, fathers, the youth, girls and boys who are wanting in  material and financial resources due to the  worsening economic crisis may find themselves as  lesser entities  or with an inferior esteem.  To some, Christmas celebration  of    organizing and hopping  from one  party to another  becomes a burden if not  an exhaustive activity that  will lead only to  emotional  stress.   The adults try to catch up with the  depth  and meaning of the season; some are successful  while others  are in   a quagmire of defeat because  what happened is exactly the opposite of their expectations.  In so many occasions, we find it a joy to have exchange gifts—but we  set a price for each gift. We  do it  to solve the problem of inequality, but in reality, we  send the message  of  unfairness.  It's too unfair to do it in the spirit of Christmas celebration.  

 

Somehow, this attitude can only lead us into a narrow appreciation of the historical context and  meaning of Christ’s birth.  At the backdrop  of all these holiday rush, the pushing and shoving in department stores,of endless greetings  of  Merry Christmas  to one another,  is the reality that we live  in a world of distress and misery brought about by unjust economic order, environmental plunder by a market-driven economy, violations of economic, political and civil rights.    

 

The reality remains that the suggested   joyous celebration of the season  may not represent  what seem to be the dominant tradition of  Christmas merriment. According to Akap-Bata Partylist , “  there are two in every three Filipino families who are experiencing hunger, nearly three in every four families eat just once a day. As a result of such pervasive  hunger, nearly one in every three Filipino kids’ growth is stunted , and one in every five is underweight.”    The truth still remains:  there are those who wonder if there would be bread crumbs  available  for their entrails to grind.

 

The living testimony of the kids who naturally and unselfishly  shared  what they received is a strong sense of hope-  the  possibility  to achieve a merry Christmas for all. While it is unfortunate that the  dominant capitalist economic system contradicts the value of these children have shown, the radical generosity of the poor will  herald    the great good news of justice and redemption of the broken world.  

 

A great Christmas song suggests the   re-fashioning of  looking  forward to  Christmas in our lives,   

 

“Someday  at    Christmas”  by  Stevie Wonder

 

Someday at Christmas men won't be boys, Playin' with bombs like kids play with toys
One warm December our hearts will see, A world where all*  are free
Someday at Christmas there'll be no wars,When we have learned what Christmas is for.

When we have found what life's really worth, There'll be peace on earth.

Someday all our dreams will come to be, Someday in a world where all* are free.

Maybe just in  time for you and me, But someday at Christmastime
Someday at Christmas we'll see a land,With no hungry children, no empty hand

One happy morning people will share, A world where people care
Someday at Christmas there'll be no tears, Where all * are equal and no one* has fears ,

(* original MEN)

 

Norma P. Dollaga

Kapatirang Simbahan Para sa Bayan

(KASIMBAYAN)

kasim...@yahoo.com.ph 

 

for even in our dance
we see the gift of grace
no matter how dangerous
and difficult each step we may take
we can rise
for we know how to dance amidst struggle
                                - nô!/nong/norms/norma