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Yet, to others not as fortunate, the season may not be as joyous. In various parts of the world, violence and terror, rather than peace and goodwill, prevail. In other areas of the globe, children go to bed without receiving a single Christmas toy, without food in their bellies. As we gather warmly near fireplaces and in the company of friends, others huddle in cold sidewalks or under musty bridges, with homeless strangers.
Like most of you, reading this email, I have been blessed to have my family around to enjoy the commemoration of Christ's birth. I remember experiencing only one particularly lonely Christmas. It was the year, after graduating from medical school, when I interned at the Veterans Memorial Hospital in Quezon City. I had been on duty the days preceding Christmas eve and could not fly home to Cebu in time for the holidays.
At the time, I was staying at my sister's place in the city, near the Araneta Coliseum. My sister had left to join her in-laws outside of Manila a few days earlier, so I found myself all alone that Christmas Eve.
I walked towards the Coliseum mall to do some last minute shopping. Already, stores were closing though a few restaurants remained open. I remember going into one of the restaurants, to eat alone at a corner table, watching passersby hurrying home for Christmas dinner. I had all the time in the world and no one to spend it with.
If anything, that experience of a lonely Christmas, gave me an insight into how terrible it can be to be all alone during this merriest of seasons. It is not surprising that the ERs get packed and that many lonely folks get sick and die during the holidays.
A week or two ago, I received in the mail a "Christmas Gift Catalogue" from a charitable organization. A20$9 gift would feed a malnourished child for a week. A $15 donation would provide for school supplies or a month's tuition so a child can learn to read and write. $75 would provide for care, shelter, and rehabilitation for a child enslaved in a sweatshop or forced to serve as a child soldier. $100 would provide temporary shelter for victims of natural disasters. The variety of charitable projects was astounding.
You must have heard of Gawad Kalinga. The organization aims to build decent housing in numerous slum districts in the Philippines. The cost of building a "Benetton House" - so called because these colorful homes are painted according to availability of donated paint -- has increased to P85,000 but the project has been a resounding success. A CEO in the Philippines has reportedly pledged to donate a house a month until he dies. Naturally, many in the organization are praying that he live a long and productive life.
In addition to giving our friends and families the usual gifts this Christmas, perhaps we can find time to serve in a soup kitchen for the homeless. Or send a check to a charitable organization. How wonderful it would be to know that in our small way, we kept a homeless person from experiencing a lonely and hungry Christmas or gave a family the experience of celebrating Christmas in a place they could truly call home.
