Christmas Hacks

Playing Candy Crush with 9999 lives is not only exciting but also an eye-popping experience for friends who couldn’t believe what they saw on my tablet! I didn’t even have to ask people over Facebook for lives, ‘sides I don’t do FB! With 9999 lives I’ll never get tense with ‘dying’ and running against the time-challenge levels. Before long, I would have conquered the ‘infinite levels’ of the game! Yeheeey!

Okay, but let’s get a few things straight: first, I really had 9999 lives; second, I only used about ten because, third, I got bored with the game even before reaching its ‘infinite levels’. I was actually more interested in ‘hacking’ the 5 lives into 9999! That for me, was the challenge more than playing the game!

The word ‘hack’ can mean many things. In computing terms, it means devising or re-programming something to work in a way you want it to. A more negative sense, would mean ‘breaking’ into a program to allow one to access the software’s full features.

A simple example would be what I did with Candy Crush. More sophisticated and serious ‘hacks’ would go so far as to remove the software protection, license verification and activating the settings to make the trial version run like a full-blown one. This type of ‘hacking’ is also called ‘cracking’ or modifying a program to my own taste.

For now, I have no intentions of entering into the ethical considerations of these technical endeavors. I would like to focus on the positive sense of how people often use the word ‘hack’. This would mean ‘making do’ or ‘skillfully converting ordinary things’ to facilitate their many common needs without spending a single cent for it.

Try googling the internet and you will find sites offering ‘daily hacks.’ Imagine how a tissue paper cardboard roll is converted to put order in the numerous power cables of our gadgets. Glasses and even paper clips are used as versatile SmartPhone or Tablet stands. The list is creative and infinitely!

Now, what stops us from hacking our spiritual life –especially this Christmas– to bring the most out of it? During the Christmas season we can easily get carried away with multiple material concerns that drown the true spiritual meaning of our Jesus’ birth.

Here are some ‘Christmas hacks’ to keep our interior life vibrantly inflamed with love:

Decorations. Let’s not be so detached from the decors we hang or pin. They can be constant reminders to also decorate our inner self. For example, We can attach a prayer of petition for a particular décor, say, asking for faith when we see the colored Christmas lights, or asking for hope when we see candles on the wreath that remind us that Jesus is the Light that dispels the darkness of sin in the world.

Crèche. The crèche can remind us of humility, poverty and abandonment in God’s hand. But let’s not stop there! Let’s also imagine being another character more within it. If I were in the Manger, what would I be? A bird, a dog, or spider, a bush, etc.?

Gifts & Cards. ‘Tis the season of gift giving! True, but how do we give them? Are we content with a detached way of giving, instead of giving ourselves? Even though people seldom give cards these days, it may be sometimes more meaningful to jot down some heartfelt words instead of simply giving away something that’s easy to buy, wrap and drop.

Carols. These Christmas melodies are early on played in malls to set our minds to shop for things this season. Let’s avoid this marketing scheme, rather let us use carols to pray, especially those rich in Christian catechesis (e.g. Oh Holy Night, We Three Kings, Twelve Days of Christmas, What Child is This?, etc.)

Ribbons and Stockings. These may seem like trivial decors, but imagine how someone once shared that with ribbons are for him colorful reminders of unity for his family and friends. And stockings urged him to empty himself constantly, awaiting the day when God will place the gift of His grace in his heart.

These are only a few well-known ‘hacks’ that I have shared. May the season open our imagination to discover more to prepare for the Child’s birth. All it takes is  love, as St. Josemaría used to repeat, “There are countless ways of praying, as I have already told you. We children of God don’t need a method, an artificial system, to talk with our Father. Love is inventive, full of initiative. If we truly love, we will discover our own intimate paths to lead us to a continuous conversation with Our Lord. (Friends of God, no. 255)”