The True Essence of Christmas

            Christmas has come around once more. It is a season of merry-making and rejoicing – “a celebration of all celebrations” of sorts to commemorate the birth of the most important person in history. But Christmas is not just about the birthday of God's son and that's not also the reason why we celebrate and honor Christmas better than our birthday or any important anniversary in the family. If God really wanted us to celebrate it that way, God would have schemed Jesus' birth in the same fashion we celebrate it today. But He chose a simpler way to do things because He wanted us to celebrate the "essence" not the event.

              Almost ordinarily, when a special someone celebrates a birthday, what we do is to well-wish that person, offer a present or celebrate the occasion with revelry and fanfare for it to be remembered by the celebrant as a momentous event of his or her life. Not that it is wrong, it is not right to do it on Christmas. God does not want us to celebrate it that way. Christmas is not how you remember it but rather how you live it. It is not about dates. It is about "dating" it.  

            One has to be mindful that remembering and living are two different things. While the other simply knows, the other one acts. The fact that God gave his son to the world, is to show his active presence in human affairs. And that is how we want us to live our lives -- to take an active role to in making this world a little better each day.

             But how do we make this world a better place? The First Christmas has all the answers. But we can't find those answers right away in the Christmas story we read in the Bible. The Bible only cites the genealogy and circumstances of Jesus' lowly birth. And I would like to surmise why all four Gospels only described the "whats" in Jesus birth for us to discover the "whys" behind it all.

          You see, you don't read the Christmas story like your history books. God wants us to read his story between the lines so it is not about history but rather how God makes a history in our lives which brings us back to the idea of dating rather than the date. Hence, the essence of the Christmas story is to understand its purpose not the history because more often than not, we can't really know why things just happen. History, can be best appreciated if left understood for its lessons -- the same goes for the true meaning of Christmas.  

            It is hard to understand why God had to send Jesus only to be nailed to death later. St. Thomas Aquinas wises that since we cannot know God, we can know him by what he is not. Since we know that God cannot be hate, he can therefore only be love. I would like to believe that this is the whole essence of Christmas. Christmas is God's expression of love to mankind we know in John 3:16. It is was a present so we may come to know that God is not always “up there” but “with us” that is why Jesus was called "Emmanuel" or God with us. There is no greater present than the gift of God's presence through Jesus.

“It’s better to give than to receive.” We’ve all heard that saying, but that doesn’t mean we truly believe it. Sure, it’s good to give a gift to someone else. We get the satisfaction of seeing their face light up and knowing that we have made them happy. But how could that possibly be better than receiving a gift yourself? It turns out that the old proverb is more than just wishful thinking, though. Giving actually can be better than receiving, for a variety of reasons—and it’s a proven scientific fact.

We do give gifts—a lot. The total value of all gifts given in the U.S., including charitable donations and volunteering, exceeds half a trillion dollars each year. Why do we give so much? There are several different reasons for giving gifts, including: 

1. To show love. Giving someone a gift expresses how much we care about them, in a way that goes beyond just words. 

2. To show gratitude. Gifts are often used to say "thank you" to people who have helped us out in some way. 

3. To get something in return. A gift may be given in hopes of getting something back, such as sending a gift to a business prospect when trying to score a sale. 

4. To meet expectations. Sometimes gifts are expected of us, such as when attending a wedding. We may then give a gift partly to avoid disappointing anyone. 

5. To make a difference. Charitable giving can be used to help a cause we care about, or to leave a legacy with our lives. In each case, there is some (often small) benefit to the person giving the gift. But that is only part of the story.

          And if we are to celebrate Christmas, we have to celebrate it with our loving presence instead of feasting. What great joy it would be if we come together as family and share that loving presence with each other even without the partying. What great joy there is if we also celebrate Christmas that same loving presence together with a sick or a hungry neighbor. Or what about spending Christmas with those who are abandoned by their loved ones? In the words of Mother Teresa, “Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.”

                God does not expect us to do great things this Christmas. We only need to do things with great love. Finally, this Christmas, may we contemplate God’s humility in Jesus, his divinity hidden beneath the poverty of a the Holy Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger; the Master and Creator of the universe reduced to the helplessness of a child. Once we accept this paradox, may we discover the truth behind it and that truth is His Love. The First Noel, the Savior becomes one of us, our companion along the trying times. May we all take his hand which he stretches out to us: a hand which seeks to take nothing from us, but only to give.

REFERENCE:

     Images

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Nativity_tree2011.jpg

http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/22/590x/Children-opening-presents-544640.jpg

https://img.etimg.com/thumb/msid-65785391,width-643,imgsize-212061,resizemode-4/christmas-fireplace-thinkstockphotos-873180722.jpg

http://www.funnynwallpaper.in.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Kids-Christmas-Gifts-2.jpg

https://chopra.com/sites/default/files/field/image/family-giving-holiday-gifts.jpg

https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/567193da1600002b00eb8f7c.jpeg?cache=dmond5aknz&ops=crop_0_77_2124_1147,scalefit_720_noupscale

https://cdn.gobankingrates.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/MAIN-Opening-Christmas-presents-848x477.jpg

https://o.aolcdn.com/images/dims3/GLOB/crop/5494x2749+266+651/resize/630x315!/format/jpg/quality/85/https%3A%2F%2Fmedia-mbst-pub-ue1.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fcreatr-images%2F2018-11%2Ff9a5bad0-e9c4-11e8-baaf-48633d1d9172

EQUAL RIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES: Fight For Your Rights

Around the world, persons with disabilities, LGBT members, indigenous people face discrimination and violence. But everyone should have the right to be themselves. It doesn't matter who you are or whom you love. That is why the Netherlands promotes equal rights for LGBTI people worldwide. 

Persons with disabilities face discrimination and barriers that restrict them from participating in society on an equal basis with others every day. They are denied their rights to be included in the general school system, to be employed, to live independently in the community, to move freely, to vote, to participate in sport and cultural activities, to enjoy social protection, to access justice, to choose medical treatment and to enter freely into legal commitments such as buying and selling property. A disproportionate number of persons with disabilities live in developing countries, often marginalized and in extreme poverty.

The protection guaranteed in other human rights treaties, and grounded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, should apply to all. Persons with disabilities have, however, remained largely ‘invisible’, often side-lined in the rights debate and unable to enjoy the full range of human rights.In recent years, there has been a revolutionary change in approach, globally, to close the protection gap and ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy the same standards of equality, rights and dignity as everyone else. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was adopted in 2006 and entered into force in 2008, signalled a ‘paradigm shift’ from traditional charity-oriented, medical-based approaches to disability to one based on human rights.

Equal opportunity (also known as equality of opportunity) arises from the similar treatment of all people, unhampered by artificial barriers or prejudices or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. According to this often complex and contested concept, the intent is that important jobs in an organization should go to those persons who are the "most qualified" – persons most likely to perform ably in a given task – and not go to persons for reasons deemed arbitrary or irrelevant, such as circumstances of birth, upbringing, having well-connected relatives or friends, religion, sex, ethnicity, race, caste, or involuntary personal attributes such as disability, age, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Though accommodation of persons with special needs and disabilities are done through job restructuring activities considering their potential for same level of performance, for experiencing same level of benefits and privileges as others.

Chances for advancement should be open to everybody interested, such that they have "an equal chance to compete within the framework of goals and the structure of rules established".  The idea is to remove arbitrariness from the selection process and base it on some "pre-agreed basis of fairness, with the assessment process being related to the type of position" and emphasizing procedural and legal means.  Individuals should succeed or fail based on their own efforts and not extraneous circumstances such as having well-connected parents.  It is opposed to nepotism  and plays a role in whether a social structure is seen as legitimate.  The concept is applicable in areas of public life in which benefits are earned and received such as employment and education, although it can apply to many other areas as well. Equal opportunity is central to the concept of meritocracy.

REFERENCE:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_opportunity

National Children's Month Celebration

Theme: Isulong: Tamang Pag-aaruga para sa Lahat ng Bata

       November is National Children's Month! This is an annual event to celebrate and recognize the Filipino children as the most valuable assets of the nation, and to emphasize the importance of the role of the child within the Filipino family and within Philippine society. The 2018 NCM focuses on positive parenting, with the theme “ISULONG: TAMANG PAG-AARUGA PARA SA LAHAT NG BATA.”  As we celebrate National Children's Month, let us remember that Violence Against Children (VAC) is everywhere and it occurs across socio-economic status. Children have a right to protection from all forms of violence.

         The Department of Education (DepEd) encouraged all private and public elementary and secondary schools to undertake activities in line with the celebration of the 2018 National Children’s Month (NCM) in month of November. Education Secretary Leonor Briones, in DepEd Memorandum No. 163 series of 2018, expressed support to the celebration the NCM this year which will be led by the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC). She noted that the celebration of this year’s NCM is pursuant to Republic Act No. 10661, “An Act Declaring the Month of November of Every Year as the National Children’s Month.” It commemorates the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the United Nations General Assembly on Nov. 20, 1989 and “seeks to instill its significance in the Filipino consciousness.”Briones said the DepEd is mandated to “facilitate and encourage the celebration of this month in all public and private schools nationwide.”

         With the theme, “Isulong: Tamang Pag-Aaruga Para sa Lahat ng Bata,” this year’s NCM celebration marks the launch of the Philippine Plan of Action to End Violence Against Children (PPAEVAC). The PPAEVAC is a multi-sectoral road map to “progressively reduce violence against children as part of the government’s commitment to build an enabling environment that respects, protects and fulfills child’s rights and address specific Sustainable Development Goals.”

       Briones, in the said DepEd Memo, noted that the PPAEVAC “translates the findings of the 2015 National Baseline Study on Violence Against Children (NBS-VAC) into specific actions and results. The study, which was spearheaded by CWC, reveals that in “various settings in the Philippines, it is reported that three in five children have experienced physical violence; three in five children have experienced psychological violence, and one in five children have suffered sexual abuse.”

          The PPAEVAC, Briones noted, also considered findings of the Systematic Review of the Drivers of Violence Affecting Children, which presents VAC as “not only an issue of personal behavior, but as situated in contextual factors that influence individual behavior such as the family’s level of financial security and education as well as community social norms.” Under the PPAEVAC, Briones said that DepEd is “the lead agency for Key Result Area (KRA) 2 which states that “children and adolescents should demonstrate personal skills in managing risks, protecting themselves from violence, reporting their experience of violence, and seeing professional help when needed.”

REFERENCE:

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/10/29/deped-enjoins-schools-to-set-natl-childrens-month-activities/

    IMAGES:

http://www.sanmateo-isabela.gov.ph/images/SLIDER/26th-Childrens-Month.jpg

Reading: The Key To The Bright Future

READING MONTH CELEBRATION

Theme: Pagbasa: Susi sa Magandang Kinabukasan

A book is both a usually portable physical object and the body of immaterial representations or intellectual object whose material signs—written or drawn lines or other two-dimensional media—the physical object contains or houses. Well, at least books have an important role of my life. They form a way to escape reality; for me to enter a different world. A place where everything is possible, only limited by the imagination of its writer. Like someone famous once said: ‘Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body‘.

An avid reader or collector of books or a book lover is a bibliophile or colloquially, "bookworm". A shop where books are bought and sold is a bookshop or bookstore. Books are also sold elsewhere. Book scan also be borrowed from libraries. We're here because we like reading and we like chatting about reading. But we are here especially because we strongly believe that reading is not just something we do alone, but something that can unite people of different kinds, all over the world! This group really is all about books!

In terms of group reads I have some fiction book and a bi-monthly group read of a classic. We feature dedicated sections for non-fiction, poetry, short stories and drama. We also have weekly poetry postings (the Monday Poem). Quarterly there is a group discussion of non-fiction books in which members are encouraged to read books that relate to a specific theme and another theme for short stories. 

We feature a yearly challenge which varies from year to year in form. In addition, we have a section for people to post their yearly personal challenges and books read during the year. 


REFERENCE:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book

“Bagong teknolohiya sa makabagong panahon; gamitin ito ng wasto at naaayon para sa ikabubuti ng lahat.”

FILIPINO VALUES MONTH

Theme: Mapanuring Paggamit ng Gadget: Tungo sa Mapagkalingang Ugnayan sa Pamilya at Kapwa

“Bagong teknolohiya sa makabagong panahon:

gamitin ito ng wasto at naaayon para sa ikabubuti ng lahat.”

    Napakalaking papel ang ginagampanan ng gadgets sa pang-araw-araw na buhay ng makabagong tao. Napakarami nang nagagawa ng computers ngayon, at halos lahat yata ng gawain ay mayroon nang paglahok ng smartphones. Nakatutuwang isipin na napapadali at napapagaan ang maraming mga gawin ng tao dahil sa mataas na antas ng mga teknolohiyang ito. Lalong lumiliit ang mundo; hindi na mahirap mawalay sa mga mahal sa buhay. Nakatutuwa ring asahan kung ano pang mga pag-usad sa teknolohiya ang madidiskubre sa darating pang mga taon.

    Ngunit sa kabila ng maraming kabutihang naidudulot ng gadgets sa ating buhay, kapag hindi sila ginamit sa tama, nagiging dahilan din ang paggamit nito upang maging magkalayo ang mga tao. May mga pag-aaral ding nagsasabi na nagiging sanhi ang mga ito ng pagbabago sa pag-uugali ng mga tao at ilang mga sakit din. Kaya naman mahalaga ang mapanuring paggamit ng gadgets. Sa ganitong paraan, napapakinabangan natin ang magagandang naidudulot ng gadgets. Nagiging daluyan din ito ng maganda at mapagkalingang ugnayan sa pamilya at kapwa, sa halip na ito ay maging dahilan ng pagkakawatak-watak. Importanteng hakbang dito ay ang palagiang pag-tsek sa sarili: Nasa tama pa ba ang paggamit ko ng gadgets? Nakatutulong pa ba ito sa mga gawain at relasyon ko? Nalilinang pa ba ang pagkatao ko?

  

     Ginawa at inimbento ang bagong teknolohiya upang mapadali ang pakikipag-ugnayan ng bawat tao, kahit saang lupalop pa ito ng mundo. Napapadali nito ang paggalaw ng bawat tao, mapa-personal man o kahit sa negosyo. Halimbawa sa mga Gadgets na ito ay ang mga smartphones, laptop, ipads, macbooks, at computer desktops. Ngunit alam ba natin na kapag gumagamit tayo ng mga gadgets ng hindi tama ay magiging masama ang sanhi nito sa atin? Maaring ang ating mga mata at ang ating ulo ay sumakit na bunga ng paglabo ng mga ito. Saksi ako dito dahil sa ako din ay nakranas ng pagsakit ng ulo at mata at paglabo ng mga ito dahil sa paggamit ko ng mga nasabing gadgets ng hindi tama at pangaabuso nito sa paggamit. Ngunit sa kalakaran ngayon, maaaring may mga iba na inaabuso ang makabagong teknolohiya at ginagamit ito upang manira ng kapwa. Huwag sana natin hayaan na lamunin tayong mga tao ng mga kasangkapang mga tao rin naman ang gumawa.