Today is the Feast of the Hold Child (Santo Niño) in the Philippines. And in many places all around the country, there will be mardi-gras-like festivals celebrating the Infant Jesus during the month of January — Ati-atihan in Aklan, Sinulog in Cebu, Dinagyang in Iloilo.
We adults always pretend to teach children. And yet often, children have more to teach us. Here is something I wrote a few years back:
To be a child is to wake up in the morning, unencumbered by the past and with a future full of limitless possibilities.
To be a child is to see the world with eyes of wonder, wishing for explanations or reasons yet open to mystery and to the unseen and the non-rational.
To be a child is to see kindness in every human encounter and not to look for a catch or hidden agenda behind such kindness.
To be a child is to sing in great abandon about every joy and not to dwell on tears and disappointments.
To be a child is to see universe in a grain of sand and to feel all of humanity in a mother’s tight and warm embrace.
To be a child is to fully relish the present moment and, at the end of the day, not to wish for tomorrow to come sooner.
To be a child is not to care and yet live every moment swathed in love.