The Best Gift

We always hear the song “give love on Christmas day…” and I am hopeful that the giving of love extends far beyond Christmas.

I searched the definitions for the word “love” and some lines described it as an intense feeling, a deep affection, a great interest that brings pleasure, something one enjoys, a fondness and other tender feelings.

I want to simplify the word and make it synonymous to caring. So, let me change some lyrics of another song “what the world needs now is caring, deep caring.”

Filipinos are generally known to be hospitable, kind, polite, and fun. But one of the characteristics that stand out in our race is our being caring. Perhaps that’s why we get to send a lot of caregivers, nurses, and domestic helpers abroad. We are preferred in international service industries because we care. We do not just do a job, we work on it. Learn it, and love to do it.  Well, mostly… for we also need caring bosses, leaders who know how to appreciate good work in order to be motivated to perform above par.

Where does caring begin? Mainly, it starts in the home. A child appreciated is a child who knows how to appreciate. A child who is secure will know how to share. Then it moves on to school, when a teacher is able to draw out the best in his or her students. As this happens, the family remains the basic backbone of unconditional caring, supposedly… so what if there is no one who cares for you? What if you come from a broken home and are made to feel like an incumbrance or something? Will you just stay in a corner and clam up?

It is a decision to care. To care for oneself, heal, and then care for others. You know you are fully healed from an uncaring environment when in spite of your experiences you still know how to care.

Being concerned about the people you meet like traffic enforcers, the doorman or bellman in the hotels and malls you enter. The salesclerks you meet and who help you pick out your gifts. The janitors and canteen servers who assist you every day. Ordinary people like us who also need to be shown that we care about each other.

Even our bosses need to know we truly care, not just to keep our job but of them as individuals with common lives like our own.

Most often we forget to care for our parents. I learned from one of our services in church that during Christmas, parents are the ones who give gifts 70% of the time. Only 30% of children wrap presents for their parents.

I hope this statistic does not come from the Philippines. But I pray, that this Christmas, we continue if not learn to give more. More time, more presence, more affection, more attention, and more care. We have had enough practice to this during the pandemic. Maybe this time it can be a habit to care, and be more concerned, all through the years!

Merry Christmas everyone!