Anticipating Christmas

Dear Diary,

Yay! Today is Sunday and is also the first of many days I will be absent from work! ;-) Other than a short 4-hour workday on Wednesday 26/12, I will not be working from today till New Year Day (1 Jan 2008). I have to go for a short reservist refresher medical training next Thursday and Friday though… =) I have been waiting for this break all these while and now I can really rest! Still I need to do up the roster for the week after next… awww… but it’s ok if it is within the comforts of my home. ;-)

One of my sisters was writing cards and wrapping gifts for her friends…. While the other was stunned when a guy came by our gate earlier in the evening to give her a more-than-$700 necklace from GoldHeart as a Christmas gift! Pretty obvious that he is all out to court her, haha… what extravagance! =)

I do miss wrapping gifts and writing Christmas cards… the last time I did was probably during pre-reg training? Or was it during my university year 4? Hmmm… it is too late now to do anything. No time to send any cards or gifts… Christmas is just less than 25 hours away. Talking about university days… I heard that the pharmacy department in NUS took in 300 new pharmacy undergraduates this year July???? Can anyone confirm that number? That’s incredible. My class (graduated in 2005) was just probably 84-student strong. Probably they are anticipating the high turnover rates of pharmacists. They can’t always hike our pays to make us stay, can they? Haha…

Heard a pretty incredible wedding story of my sister’s friend’s friend. Okay… a bit distant in relation if any, haha… Apparently, my sister’s friend attended her friend’s wedding and it was an unforgettable one… literally… and in this case, it is best forgotten. Apparently, at a named hotel… a wedding was held. Little would anyone predict a series of unfortunate events! First, the loud-speakers which were supposed to play the “Wedding March” music did not work… the groom and his bride had to stand outside the ballroom for a long while, leaving the guests puzzled with that silent interval. The music came on eventually and they strolled in… then their wedding montage could not be presented due to a suddenly-faulty projector! If this already sounds like a disaster… it continued with the champagne. Like in all weddings, the groom will pop the champagne. In this case, the waiter who helped to loosen the cork… probably did too much… so when the bottle was in the midst of transferring over the groom’s hands, the cork flew out even before he did anything. Then, when the married couple poured the wine, the pyramid tower of glasses collapsed! Even I find it so hard to believe that it actually happened. It must be very sad for the couple. After hearing this story, think it is always best to check everything properly and do a dry-run… And if they did… then this “mayhem” was probably a sabotage.

Anyway, today in church, as the bible passage of the Annunciation (Luke 1:26 – 38) was read… I was left puzzled. I realised that although verse 27 spoke about Mary being pledged to be married with Joseph, Mary was puzzled when the angel Gabriel told her that she would give birth to a son whose kingdom will have no end (verse 31 – 33). She reacted by saying, “How will this be since I am a virgin?” (verse 34) This is very puzzling to me because if she knew she was going to married to Joseph and consummate it, then why should she be surprised when an angel told her she would bear a child! Did Mary actually have intention to remain a perpetual virgin, as in Roman Catholic doctrine? Hmmm… sometimes, the bible almost feels as it is living. Okay, I know it is the living Word of God, haha… Even though one may read through the stories countless of times, there is always something to learn from it when you read it just one more time.

There was an interview done on some shoppers in Canada who were indignant of the displays of the Nativity scenes in shopping malls. One of them snapped back, “Why are they (Christians) bringing their religion into our Christmas?”

Isn’t this ironic? Our Christmas? Christmas is the birthday of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Yet, in many parts of the world and even amongst us, we have left the birthday boy outside the house while we celebrate his birthday. Christmas is truly meaningful only when we celebrate its actual intention, if not… it would just be yet another public holiday.

I wish you a Merry and Blessed Christmas! May you know the infant Christ as your Lord and Saviour. I quote from the second stanza of the Christmas hymn “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” because I think Charles Wesley describe the infant Jesus very beautifully there:

Christ by highest heav'n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

The peace of God be with you now and always. Amen.

God Bless,

Andrew