THROUGH UNTRUE

When I was much younger, I believed that completing the Simbang Gabi novena, contributing to charity, and forsaking my favorite vices would guarantee a picture-perfect Christmas. I envisioned Christmas as a future event for which I had to prepare.

Seeing Christmas as a hoped-for possibility led me to invest excessive effort in making it a reality. My preparation resembled a business plan, where anticipated gains must surpass the costs. The energy and resources I poured into it became more of an investment, rather than gifts that flourish when freely shared.

Many can resonate with this sentiment. Influenced by advertisements, slogans, and images propagated by consumerist media, people gear up for Christmas in a frenzy of shopping and bargain hunting. They endure traffic and navigate overcrowded malls in pursuit of gifts, decorations, clothing, food, toys, gadgets, and other items they don't genuinely need. They buy these simply because everyone else buys them.

Others prepare for Christmas by fulfilling self-imposed obligations such as sending Christmas cards, selfies, and emails to relatives, friends, and acquaintances. Engaging in gift-giving, attending office parties, participating in family reunions, and taking vacations are considered obligatory. Often, these activities leave them physically exhausted and financially strained.

Perhaps the most effective way to prepare for Christmas is to see it not as a future event that happens only after our meticulous preparations. Christmas happens in the present, in the very act of preparing it. 

Have you ever been so engrossed in a captivating activity that you lose awareness of your surroundings and the passage of time? For instance, finding joy in cooking stylish meals for family and friends can be so gratifying that you become entirely absorbed in the process. The outcome becomes inconsequential compared to the joy derived from creating exquisite dishes.

Such activities allow you to experience delight and happiness not AFTER completing them but WHILE doing them. The Greek phrase for this is "ex stasis" (from which we derive the word "ecstasy"), meaning "to stand aside." When you immerse yourself in a thoroughly delightful activity like cooking, you are literally "beside yourself." You forget yourself, your interests, and your selfish concerns. You are wholly caught up in the desire to enjoy the moment.

Today, examine your numerous commitments and activities. Discard those that cause you needless stress, haste, and anxiety. Immerse yourself in those that evoke in you a deeper awareness of the present moment to the extent that the boundaries between the self and the divine begin to dissolve, paving the way for a profound spiritual experience.

Granting that you cannot avoid planning, shopping, wrapping gifts, and social networking this Christmas, you can still engage in these in a way that you do not lose your equanimity.  Do these works with mindfulness and love, so they become an encounter with the divine. It is not the nature of a work itself but the spirit with which it is carried out that elevates it to a higher plane. As Mother Teresa once said: "Everything that we do becomes a prayer when we consciously feel that we are doing it with God."

Christmas is a spiritual journey into what is already within us. By sinking into a deeper awareness of our actions, we discover that the true intimacy of God, seemingly remote, is within reach. Christmas is not merely a future event to be awaited. It is a continuous celebration of the love, forgiveness, and joy that Jesus offers us in every moment. We only have to   heed His voice: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if anyone hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in and have dinner with him, and he with me" (Revelations 3:20).