Excited State

I tidied up all the Christmas decor at home yesterday while Nidz and Chiara were busy cooking ginataang bilo-bilo (glutinous rice balls cooked with coconut milk). For some reason, the song "A Holly, Jolly Christmas" kept playing in my mind. 

It was just a month ago when we put up the Nativity scene, Christmas tree, etc. Back then, there was a feeling of hopeful expectation for the Lord's Birth. An excitement for the holidays. A time with the people dear to you.

I note how a friend spoke about our circle of friends when we were at their place on New Year's Eve. Way back before the holidays, friends were quite busy and didn't have much time to communicate with each other. In our group conversation in Messenger, the usual response then would be just a thumbs up or a hand wave. But when Christmas and New Year came, friends became more engaged. 

In quantum mechanics, an atom, molecule, or nucleus experiences a higher energy level. It gets excited. Once it goes back to its ground state, it emits light.  I'd like to think of ourselves experiencing a similar condition. Christmas has brought about a degree of excitement in us, that good and outgoing feeling. The season has woken us up from our ground state, our comfort zone, to something higher. It could be reaching out to family, friends, and even strangers. It could be spending more time in the community. It could be taking a harder look at ourselves and resolving issues we have taken for granted for so long. I am sure that, one way or another, the Christ Child has touched us this blessed season.

As we return to our ground state, as we head back to the ordinariness of our lives, I hope that like that excited atom or molecule or nucleus, we'll all emit the Light of Jesus to all.

Here's to a Christ-filled New Year!