Stars not bright, stars not lighted…

By Emmanuelle

WHAT if you were a time traveler and you were right there more than two thousand years ago, and if, aside from the three kings, you were one of those who shared the angel’s confidence? You could be the extra pair of sand-rimmed eyes who looked up at the skies to zoom in on the star showing the way to the manger where the son of God was born. Breathe here.

You would also need for transportation a cousin of the three king’s camels to carry you and your packs of foodstuffs don’t forget the water, your wraps and beddings not to mention your own precious gift to the newborn child. You need these all and more, for you would follow that star for days and days and even weeks before you could get to where you should be before your time frame runs out and history changes its mind and decides to pass you by. Breathe here.

And if you time traveled again from then to December of 2008, and you look up to the stars in the skies, you would meet the same old star-friends. Unlike you though, these stars are not time travelers. You may choose to believe otherwise, but these stars are the very same ones you looked up to more than two thousand years ago. Breathe free from hereon, my dear; no more long winding sentences, we swear.

And this fact is not a miracle and an impossibility as time travel. But, who knows? About time travel, we mean.

Brighter than all the glitter of the night skies was that guiding star. Was that star a nova, a shooting star, a meteor, a comet? Astronomers do not believe so, but some stargazers suggest the sighting of that star may be attributed to a time the planets Mars, Jupiter and Saturn came close together in the heavens to form a triangle known as Pisces. Pisces was a sign of a great event in the land of the Jews. Sorry my dear; breathe here.

The three kings who were astrologers themselves must have interpreted it just so. And allowed themselves to be guided. After all, they were said to be wise men, all three of them.

To millions of Filipinos, the parol represents that star, that guiding light showing the three kings their way to where the Infant Jesus lay. And because that star or light must be continuing in its sparkling throughout the kings’ slow clandestine progress to Him, the parol conveys warmth that cannot be equaled by any other adornments of the season. Breathe here.

Thus, more than the tree and even more than the Belen (Nativity scene), the lantern or the parol is probably the most popular symbol of Christmas among the Filipinos, here and abroad. Not only because it is unique to the Philippines, but because it suggests a meaning close to the hearts of this nation of soap-opera lovers.

Precisely, even more so today. A guide like a star continuing in its sparkling is what we all need these stressful, hurting days.

It is in this spirit that this writer offers the following salute to all lanterns that had seen better years. Those lanterns that had outlived their bright, swishy Japanese-papered tail days.

These giant lanterns in a Pangasinan town lent holiday radiance to the nights of past Christmases. At day’s break, during which time this writer had taken this picture, it was their turn to bask from the radiance of the sun as it rose from the east. It bathed their reds in sunshine and their greens became one with the leaves.

For weeks, the acacia trees had stars for earrings. For years, the lanterns brought light and life to the Christmas seasons of this town and its people. They perched high among tree branches, or fronted municipal buildings, or balanced precariously on neon posts.

They shooed the darkness away from the paths of dawn churchgoers, and flitted home with them on blessed angel-winged feet. And not only were they lights, they were props to the guitars and the songs of carolers and lovers-for-a while.

After last year’s holidays, the lanterns were, as usual, carefully wrapped in newspapers sealed tight with tapes and twines. They were raised and dangled on hooks up the roof of a giant garage to wait out the non-Christmas months.

Alas, when they were ready to burst out of their wraps that had gone crispy and browned, the caretaker announced: you will have to wait a far longer time, dearies. Bigger and more daring entries of a parol-making contest will have their moment of glory in your stead.

You can almost hear till the next block the lanterns collectively breaking out in a symphony of wails – bamboo ribs snapping, tired tied joints groaning, cellophane skin ripping.

You’d better not stroll under those dangling mummies, mommies.

(Readers may reach columnist at jingmil@yahoo.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/feelings/
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