Is Christmas still Merry?
Khristine Maguddayao
I don't know if it's just me...or if the enchantment of Christmas really appears to fade as time passes. The happiness that was once so explicitly present over the holidays slips into memory as one moves through
growing up and adulthood. It leaves me wondering:
Is Christmas still merry or have we outgrown the magic?
I recently saw this on Reddit. The original poster shared a negative experience with carolers. The kids wanted more money without singing or performing; they just brought a speaker and lip-synced. They weren't satisfied with receiving coins, so they kept knocking on the OP's door, insisting on getting more money. The replies on this post echoed similar sentiments, with people saying that kids nowadays lack creativity compared to the past. So I did some digging... in my hometown, Cagayan Valley. I wonder what kind of creativity they were referring to in terms of caroling?
I saw these pictures a few days before Christmas...
These are images of Cagayan Valley's "Pastores." They are characterized as
shepherd-like children carol singers who perform long folk Christmas melodies from memory from house to house.
In my 20 years living in Cagayan Valley, I never saw or heard anything like this before. When I asked my mom about it, she shared that Pastores was a big part of her childhood.
She fondly remembered the songs kids used to sing back then, in languages like Ilocano, Itawes, and Ybanag—the local dialects of Cagayan Valley.
Although I didn't grow up witnessing 'Pastores' like my mom did, we have our own family tradition that, while not exactly similar, is still connected. When we were young, my cousins, sister, and I would visit our aunts and uncles, especially the elderly members of the family, and sing for them.
Now that my cousins have started their own families, it's my nephews and nieces who go caroling. As one of the aunties, I'm now among those who give, carrying on the tradition, especially with my working cousins contributing more as well.
During Christmas, the once overlooked bottle caps (tansan), along with empty gallons and seemingly insignificant sticks, transform into valuable treasures as they find purpose as musical instruments.
Perhaps for some, the Christmas spirit seems to have faded. At times, I find myself contemplating this because as we grow older, it's undeniable that the number of gifts or money we receive tends to decrease. It's at this point that we may start thinking that
Christmas is no longer as joyful. Our childhood, where we were once the center of attention, undergoes a shift. But for children,
Christmas is still merry. As adults, let's clarify to them that the joy of Christmas is not about what they receive but rather the significance of Jesus Christ's birth. We need to realize that the essence of Christmas doesn't revolve around the money we
receive. When you begin questioning if Christmas is truly merry, perhaps that's the moment to ask yourself again
what Christmas really means to you.
Merry Christmas