Santa Claus’ Christmas Envelopes
Do you believe in Santa Claus? Well, in my case it is a resounding, Yes! Since when? Since I was a small boy. Why? He gave me Christmas gifts as far as I could remember. That would be enough evidence by itself.
I remember as a young child, I even waited for Him in the living room of our house. I waited and waited and waited. Then, I fell asleep on the sofa.
In my dream that night I saw Him. He came through our huge sliding doors and began to place His presents neatly arranged on the table where the Nativity scene is displayed.
From then on, I never stayed up late to wait for Him on Christmas Eve. I believed, as impressionable as I was, that one-time-big-time dream encounter was enough to prove my curiosity on Santa Claus’ existence.
The fact of the matter is when I grew up through the years, as we all came to realize, there is one member of the family that takes His role. In our family, it was our good old father.
Consistently as the years went by on Christmas mornings we would find our Christmas envelope. When our father started writing and printing his own cards with his own written Christmas poems they accompanied the crisp newly printed bills straight out of the local bank.
Among his brood we never stopped believing in Santa Claus. We would often say to each other that if you do not believe then no gift. It was just as simple as that, nothing more and nothing less.
When our father died not too long ago, the Christmas envelopes went along with him. However, his article about the reality of Santa Claus lingers on. He wrote that Santa Claus is in reality- God the Father. And, He sent His only begotten Son on Christmas day- Jesus’ Birthday - to save us. Christmas is the fulfillment of the promise. It is the primordial tenet that the Catholic Faith is based on.
Through the years in popular culture, His existence is often questioned especially the children. In an American column this was explained in- Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus. As long as there is love, there He is… As long as there is peace, there He is… As long as there is hope, there He is… God is Love, Peace, Hope. He is Everything. He is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent i.e. everywhere.
In the Philippine setting, there is a song that goes, “Sino si Santa Claus, ang tanong sa akin, ng anak kong bunso na naglalambing. Pakinggan mo bunso, ng malaman mo si Santa Claus ay laging naririto, minamasdan lamang ang ugali n’yo, ‘pagkat mahal niya kayo!”
In English we say Merry Christmas to one another. There had been some issues that had arisen when people protested against the other greeting which is, “Happy Holidays.” We must understand that this became popular because the Christmas season coincided with other special occasions like the Chanukkah etc. The controversy is that our Lord is taken out of the celebration. Christ should be in Christmas.
In Tagalog we say Maligayang Pasko. Pasko is from the Spanish word, pascua. It means passover. If we truly want to say Merry Christmas then it would be Maligayang Kapanganakan ni Jesus. Pascua de Navidad in the language of Cervantes.
Thus, without- de Navidad -it would be the same as Happy Holidays. Wherein Holiday is referring to a Holy Day. Merry Christmas in Spanish is of course- Feliz Navidad - as we are already familiar with it with the all-time-favorite-song with lyrics- Feliz Navidad, Prospero año felicidad.
In deconstructing a language we truly know what we mean. If there are gray areas we ask what do you actually mean. Now, that is crystal clear communication. No one gets lost in translation.
Going back to the Christmas envelopes, there are no longer new physical cards and cash with the passing away of our late father but the memories remain. The old ones are kept. And, the Christmas Spirit lives in the envelopes of our hearts.
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