By S. Jayasankaran
Raisa came back on Tuesday, which completed the picture. You could say we’re ready for C-day.
We humans, need a little reassurance from time to time. Life’s hard enough as it is. At best, it’s a gamble with terrible odds: no one gets out alive.
And, just when you think it’s safe to get back on the road and you’re finally on the right track, wham, you’re hit by a truck.
But there’s hope. The Good Lord never gives you more than you can handle and, occasionally, He throws in a sweetener.
This is it.
It’s that season of the year, the time you feel optimistic, even hopeful, for no reason at all. OK, I lied: there’s a basis. It’s the most wonderful time for a beer.
The origins of this particular belief are grounded in basic Newtonian logic. There’s a day coming, and it engenders a specific response, ergo we have Claus and Effect.
It has that effect on people. We went to the Pavilion in downtown Kay-El the other day, and those guys can put on a show.
You entered an extravaganza of excess, of Christmastide run amok. Gaily decorated Christmas trees were ascending the stairs while crystal ropes reflecting a thousand points of light streamed down from the ceiling.
Draped in electric candles, baubles and crepe, the scene was a riot in silver and gold and red and green. A mistletoe toast to the holiday season. Yule be in my heart and then some.
It was so over the top, I found myself grinning. People were taking selfies against the backdrop, and there were pop-up shops doing a brisk trade.
OK, it’s crass commercialism of the highest order, but, boy, does it know how to put on wings! The shops are decked out in ruby red and evergreen hues, which gives them warmth and makes them inviting.
I didn’t know much about Christmas until I met Rebecca at university 48 years ago.
What I realised immediately was that the whole thing – the season, its essence – gave her great joy.
Very much later, I saw the same joy in my daughter’s eyes when she woke up on Christmas mornings. It was quite a sight to behold and enough to make your heart swell.
I only converted to Catholicism 29 years after getting married, but I have participated enthusiastically in all Christmases since then.
It isn’t unusual: I know many non-Christian families who put up trees and give and receive presents among themselves. That’s the Christmas spirit right there.
As they say during Christmas dinners: “It’s your presents that’re important.”
A glittering Christmas tree outside the Spring Mall in Kuching
OK, that was a joke, but you don’t have to be Christian to grasp that Christmas is an occasion where love and family are at its centrepiece. Or as Charles Schultz, the creator of Peanuts, put it, “It’s not what’s under the Christmas tree that matters, it’s who’s around it.”
At its core, it’s a state of mind: of peace and goodwill to all and to see the best in everyone.
And then the season will weave its magic spell over the world and cast everything in a softer and more beautiful light. Merry Christmas, everyone.
Another Christmas tree…it’s inside the Spring Mall in Kuching this time!