AS Christmas Day will not fall today, when this column is scheduled, I will take this opportunity to extend to all my friends and readers early Yuletide greetings. These are as sincere as if they were offered this coming Thursday, which is supposed to be the anniversary of the birth of Christ in a manger in Bethlehem.

That date was arbitrarily determined by the early Christians many centuries ago and was affirmed by the sinful popes during the Dark Ages who were more politicians than chosen messengers of God. Their word was unquestionably accepted by the ignorant worshipers who believed that salvation could be purchased with ducats or gold instead of being deserved through prayer and penitence.

One of such pontiffs was Alexander VI, after whom a street in Manila was named by some municipal functionaries who never heard him truthfully described as “the father, husband and brother-in-law” of the incestuous Lucrezia Borgia.

The abuses of the popes during that wicked period were rejected by Martin Luther and his protestant reformers and Henry VIII who withdrew his allegiance to the Vatican and established the separate Church of England under the Archbishop of Canterbury. But they did not repudiate Dec. 25 as the day when the angels welcomed the Babe in Bethlehem with songs of peace on earth and goodwill to all men.

People of other faiths have also accepted Christmas as an occasion for rejoicing if not in common veneration of Jesus Christ. Some non-Christians suspend hostilities during this season in keeping with the carols the angels sang in the holy hills. In December, the Ginza is ablaze with Christmas lights for Japanese shoppers who worship not Jesus but Buddha and the mighty yen. Even the pagans drink themselves blind with native brews on this sacred day in imitation of their Christian brothers with their expensive wine.

During the Yuletide, the white-bearded Santa Claus is popular as the never-seen giver of toys because he personifies the faith of the little Virginia who was told—and believed—that there were fairies dancing on the lawn. It was of her and her playmates that Jesus said to his disciples, “Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

It is they who best symbolize the beauty and sanctity of Christmas because they are as pure as virgin coconut oil. We would feel as blest and as thankful as they are if we could only realize the bounties we enjoy from Heaven despite our serous problems. There are so many things we take for granted, like the splendor of our race, sunset in Manila Bay, the breathtaking symmetry of Mount Mayon, the still untapped wealth of our seas and forests, and the promise of our brilliant youth. All these best things in life are free, and we still feel neglected!

We do not deceive ourselves with the fiction that under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her negotiable cohorts, we are living in a perfect world. “In a fool’s paradise” would be more accurate. Many of our people are starving, political falsehoods continue to mock our liberties, and crooks thrive on plundered public funds. It is the height of pretension to suggest that these are the best of times for our beguiled and bewildered nation.

It is true that compared to other peoples, we are much more comfortable in our part of this troubled world. In Africa, in Asia, in South America, and in the war-torn lands in Europe, numberless victims are suffering from violence, starvation, disease, natural disasters, false leaders, immorality, terrorism, and other hardships that make human life seem like a curse rather than a blessing.

Although we Filipinos are better off than they, we cannot say that conditions in our country, such as they are, are blameless under a benign and honest government. We were happier before; now sadness blights our lost loveliness. Nevertheless, graced by the healing touch of this hallowed day, let us endeavor to treat and help each other, “with malice toward none and charity for all,” in the spirit of the Infant Lord.

On a personal note, our family’s observance of the Yuletide this year will not be as joyful as in previous years. On Dec. 1, my youngest sister Letty passed away after a long illness during which her husband Manulo and their lone daughter Yoya gave her singular care and devotion. Their concern was like the loving attention Letty herself offered without fail, more than my other sisters did, to our bedridden and dying parents.

Yoya is inconsolably grieved because she feels that as a doctor she had not done enough to ease her mother’s agony. Believe me, dear child, your Mommy died with a heart full of gratitude for you and your Daddy.

Letty was a quiet friend to all and led a happy life with the two persons she loved most. As her elder brother, I never felt it necessary to lecture her on proper conduct with God and her fellow mortals, not that I was an expert on this subject. All of us in the family will miss her, affectionately remembering her thoughtfulness, her caring ways, and her laughter. We are glad she is now in the cherished company of our father and mother and our two departed brothers in that redeeming afterlife where everything is eternal sunshine.

Merry Christmas and the best of everything to one and all!