Today is that most magical and ironical time of the year. It is the happiest and saddest of times, the most divine yet the most commercial. It is the spell when love or loneliness thrives or consumes. What is it about Christmas that opens up the heart of hearts and makes it more vulnerable?

Interestingly, the history of this holiday is in itself a paradox. Most Christians believe that December 25 is the actual day that Jesus was born, calculated nine months after the Annunciation when the Blessed Virgin Mary was singled out to be the Mother of Christ. Some scholars have challenged this notion. They submit that in the 4th century, the Roman Church chose the day that coincided with the winter solstice, supposedly the �birthday� of Sol Invictus. They allege that the assignment of December 25 as Christmas day was a clever ruse to replace the pagan celebration called �Bruma�.

The universal theme remains the same whatever faith or country one belongs to. It is the ardent universal hope that the coming year will be better than the one gone by. The wish is backed by resolve to do whatever it takes to achieve one�s definition of �better�, hence the ubiquitous New Year�s Resolutions.

As you celebrate this festive occasion, spare a thought for those who are unable to do so.� If you can , reach out and touch their lives in some way, no matter how small it may appear to be.� It is the thoughts that count.� And remember them in your prayers.

I wish all of you a very wonderful and blessed Christmas. Remember, it�s your choice!

A Christmas tree is pictured before the Capitol Hill dome in Washington DC, USA

City Hall and the Freedom Monument are illuminated with Christmas decorations on the main square in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Lighted Christmas tree on the Singapore Flyer in Singapore.

Christmas lights across the street at Orchard Road in Singapore.

People visit Christmas fair in Alexandrovskiy Garden in SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia.

Fireworks explode from a Christmas tree during the lighting ceremony at Rodrigo de Freitas Lake in RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil.

A Christmas tree is illuminated as the traditional Christmas market opens at the Old Town Square in PRAGUE, Czech Republic.

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is lit in NEW YORK CITY, USA.

Fireworks light up the sky near the 120 feet-high Christmas tree display at the Baywalk in PALAWAN, Philippines.

A shopping mall is lit up with Christmas lights in HONG KONG, China.

A tram decorated with Christmas lights travels in the centre of BUDAPEST, Hungary.

The trees on Berlin's Unter der Linden boulevard are lit up for the Christmas season.

People view a fibre-optic lit Christmas tree decoration in front of an office building in BEIJING, China.

The Christmas tree of Dortmund in Germany is the largest in the world and is built with a scaffold, covered with 1,700 Norway spruces, 40,000 lights and is 45m high.

Cars pass under hanging Christmas lights in a street in MADRID, Spain.

Shoppers walk under Christmas lights in West End in LONDON, England.

Fireworks explode as a giant Christmas tree and an old building in Beirut are illuminated during the launch of Beirut Celebrates 2010 at a Christmas parade in downtown Beirut.

People gather to watch the lighting of the Christmas tree in front of the Royal Castle in WARSAW, Poland.

Christmas lights illuminate Vienna's city centre in VIENNA, Austria.

A couple walks towards a Christmas tree at a shopping mall in Tokyo, Japan.

People walk on a snow-covered street on the square around the giant Christmas tree in STRASBOURG, France.

Pedestrians walk past Christmas lights in downtown Stockholm, Sweden.

Fireworks light up in the sky during the lighting ceremony of a Christmas tree in SOFIA, Bulgaria.

Fireworks explode during the illumination of Christmas lighing for the Children's Museum in SAN JOSE, Costa Rica. More than five thousand lights illuminate the museum during the Christmas season.

Christmas lights in the form of the Eiffel Tower are displayed near the actual city landmark on the Rue Saint Charles in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, France.

A girl poses for a picture in a street illuminated with Christmas lights in MEDELLIN, Colombia.

“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.”

~ Norman Vincent Peale

It is Christmas and I wish all of you a very blessed and happy Christmas and may 2010 bring you an abundance of joy, love and peace.

May Your Christmas Be As Lovely As This Baby Santa!

Christmas is about giving. If there is no joyous way to give a festive gift, give love away.

Christmas gift suggestions:

To your enemy, forgiveness.

To an opponent, tolerance.

To a friend, your heart.

To a customer, service.

To all, charity.

To every child, a good example.

To yourself, respect.

~ Oren Arnold

Keep this in mind:

“The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:the presence of a happy� family all wrapped up in each other.”

~ Burton Hillis

Have a fun-filled happy Christmas……….ho ho ho!

If you do not see Santa Claus this Christmas, maybe this is the reason why.

Christmas is a mixture of secular and religious traditions. At its core, Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. For Christians, it is the time to renew one’s faith. But Christmas is also a secular celebration of family. It has become widely accepted by people of other religions

Christmas is a bonafide gift-giving bonanza. Desperate parents scrabble over the under-stocked toy of the season. Stores bring out the tinsel and greenery as early as October.

I was in Bintang Megamall yesterday and saw this nice Christmas decoration. It really put you in a festive mood when seeing such decor.

Christmas decor at Bintang Megamall Miri

Christmas is a time for reunion and giving generously. A few days ago I received an email from my eldest brother with this wonderful true story. And with Christmas less than two weeks away, I really want to share this story with you……

The new priest, newly assigned to his first ministry to open a church in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited about the opportunities. When he saw the church, it was very run down and need much work. He set a goal to have everything done in time to have the first service on Christmas Eve.

He worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc, and on December 18 was ahead of schedule and just about finished. On December 19 a terrible tempest – a driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days. On the 21st, the priest went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high. The priest cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home.

On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory coloured, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colours and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.

By this time it had started to snow. An older�woman running from the opposite direction was�trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The priest invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later.

She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the priest while he put�up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The priest could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and�it covered up the entire problem area.

Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was like a sheet. ‘Father,’ she asked, ‘where did you get that tablecloth?’�The priest explained. The woman asked him to check�the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had�made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria.

The woman could hardly believe it as the priest told how he had just gotten the Tablecloth. The woman explained that before the war she and�her husband were well-to-do people in Austria.

When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave.�Her husband was going to follow her the next week.�He was captured, sent to prison and never saw her�husband or her home again.

The priest wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the priest keep it for the church. The priest insisted on driving her home; that was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a housecleaning job.

W�hat a wonderful service they had on Christmas�Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the�spirit were great. At the end of the service, the�priest greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return.

One older man, whom the priest recognized�from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the�pews and stare, and the priest wondered why he�wasn’t leaving.

The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on�the front wall because it was identical to one�that his wife had made years ago when�they lived in Austria before the war and how�could there be two tablecloths so much alike.

He told the priest how the Nazis came, how he�forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison.. He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35 years in between.

The priest asked him if he would allow him to�take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten�Island and to the same house where the priest had taken the woman three days earlier.

H�e helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman’s apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas�reunion he could ever imagine.