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The Essence of Christmas



It's seven days before Christmas! We are all busy for the biggest celebration of the year. Christmas trees, colorful lights, boxes of presents, bulk of grocery items for the Christmas feast or noche buena. We were all too much concerned with ourselves and we seemed to forget other people..people who were "less-fortunate" compared to us.

Lask week, I had learned so many lessons about contentment in life. I am always complaining that life is so tiresome and boring. I was so worried about Christmas expenses: tickets for going home, credit card charges, gifts etc. I forgot that my concerns were too nonsense compared with concerns of other people.

This Christmas, may we know and see it's true essence through the eyes of the lowly.

The song below was entitled Paraiso, a filipino term for paradise. The lyrics speak of a dark and dreary environment where scavengers are free to make what they get from the garbage pile. But that does not make them any less free to imagine, any less free to hope, and any less free to dream. This is an inspirational song that was dedicated by Ryan Cayabyab not only to marginalized folks but especially to young people who have hopes and dreams of a better future. The song won the grand prize at the 1992 Tokyo Pop Music Festival.


Paraiso
 Return to a land called Paraiso,
 a place where a dying river ends.
 No birds there fly over Paraiso,
 no space allows them to endure.
 The smoke that screens the air,
 the grass that's never there.
And if I could see a single bird, what a joy.
 I try to write some words and create
 a simple song to be heard
 by the rest of the world.
I live in this land called Paraiso,
 in a house made of cardboard floors and walls.
 I learned to be free in Paraiso,
 free to claim anything I see.
 Matching rags for my clothes,
 plastic bags for the cold.
And if empty cans were all I have, what a joy.
 I never fight to take someone
 else's coins and live with fear
 like the rest of the boys.
Paraiso, help me make a stand.
 Paraiso, take me by the hand
 Paraiso, make the world understand
 that if I could see a single bird, what a joy.
 This tired and hungry land could expect
 some truth and hope and respect
 from the rest of the world.




This post is dedicated to Joboy. The boy we met a week ago. We had the chance to listen to his life story and his life is not far from what we have seen in the video. To Joboy, may you not lost hope...I cannot forget smile in your face when ran home with your chickenjoy.
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