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Today's Quotation:
Christmas is not just a day, an event to be observed and speedily forgotten. It is a spirit which should permeate every part of our lives.

William Parks

Today's Meditation:
Christmas is not just a day... it is a season... and it is the spirit that we bring to the season--not what the day happens to bring to us--that determines our Christmas experience. And although for some there is peace and joy, especially for that one day, for many individuals, the full spirit of the season is rarely experienced in its entirety. For many, the Christmas season is speckled with many small inconveniences, and perhaps even seen as an inconvenience altogether. The financial and time constraints can begin to feel burdensome, and the calendar days can seem to quickly ill up with to-do's. In addition, there is a tremendous amount of juggling that generally goes on between the putting up of decorations and the tree, to what often seems like endless shopping and hectic traffic.

Fortunately, one of the most prominent messages of Christmas is peace, joy, and love--the exact opposite of feeling inconvenienced. In fact, this season presents to us one of the best models for peace, joy, love, and humility we could ever ask for--Mary and Joseph. Mary was just a young woman who had her whole life ahead of her, and one can only imagine the emotions she felt when the angel Gabriel appeared to her and told her she would be with child and give birth to the saviour of all mankind. And Joseph, who being espoused to her, was perhaps overwhelmed with her pregnancy; who was planning on divorcing her silently until an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him not to be afraid. Or the inconvenience they both faced having to travel roughly 65 miles on a donkey while pregnant, for the census, only to discover that there is no place to stay when they arrived in Bethlehem during the latter hours of the night. Yes, both Mary and Joseph where inconvenienced, yet they found hope, love, joy, and peace as they gazed upon the newborn Christ, a hope, love, joy, and peace that we, too, can experience as we gaze upon Christ and reflect upon the season.

Search for that spirit of Christmas today and throughout the year. Unlike the Valentine's Day or the Fourth of July, the spirit of Christmas transcends a single day; it is much more than an idea or an event. And if we look beyond the celebration with family, and beyond the giving and receiving of gifts--allowing the spirit of Christmas to permeate every part of our lives--then it truly might transform us in beautiful and marvelous ways.

As you celebrate this Christmas season, let it be a time for reflection of the heart--a mirror in which you see what you are giving to the world, and your appreciation and gratitude for what it gives back. And as the day moves on, choose wisely what your focus will be on--the gifts and the happenings... or the spirit of the season, the holiness of the holiday.

Today's Challenge: Gaze upon the face of the child Jesus in the nativity scene and reflect upon the feelings in your heart.

Questions to consider:
What does the spirit of Christmas mean to you? Where can you most easily find it?

Do you ever feel inconvenienced during the Christmas season? How might you dispel such feelings?

What parts of your life do you allow Christmas to permeate? How would it feel if you were to allow it to truly, madly, and deeply permeate your life?

For further thought:
Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind.

Mary Ellen Chase

PH growth still one of fastest in East Asia: World Bank | PTV News PH growth still one of fastest in East Asia: World Bank December 22, 2018 152 Facebook Twitter Google+ By Leslie Gatpolintan/PNA MANILA — The World Bank (WB) expects the Philippines to remain one of the fastest-growing economies in the East Asia and the Pacific region, even after it slightly revis...

PAGLILINAW sa mga isyung ibinabato kaugnay ng PITX

Una sa lahat, batid at hindi itinatanggi ng administrasyong Duterte na hindi sa liderato nito nagsimula ang proyektong Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX).

Ang concession agreement para sa proyekto ay nilagdaan noong 24 April 2015, sa ilalim ng nakaraang administrasyon. Gayunman, malinaw ring inilabas lang ang "Notice to Proceed" para sa proyekto noong 17 October 2016, mahigit isang taon matapos malagdaan ang kasunduan. Ibig sabihin, mula nang napirmahan ang kasunduan, mahigit isang taong nakatiwangwang ang proyekto.

Ang mismong pagtatayo ng PITX ay sinimulan noong 21 October 2016, at natapos nitong 17 April 2018 (civil works).

Dinatnan ng kasalukuyang administrasyon ang proyekto na puno pa ng talahib ang pagtatayuang lugar, at wala ni isang posteng nakatayo. Mayroon ring ilang informal settlers na naglalagi sa lugar.

Hindi lang 'yan. Nang busisiin ni DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade ang kontrata para sa proyekto, napag-alamang nakasaad dito na kailangang magbayad ang gobyerno ng PhP 100 million kada taon sa loob ng 35 taon sa MWM Terminals bilang annual grantor's fee.

Mariin itong tinutulan ni Secretary Tugade sapagkat lugi ang gobyerno rito: gobyerno ang may-ari ng lupa, pribadong kumpanya ang magtatayo ng terminal at siyang kikita mula sa mga negosyong uupa sa pasilidad, pero gobyerno pa ang magbabayad. Ngunit 'yan ang nakapaloob sa kasunduang nilagdaan sa ilalim ng nakaraang administrasyon.

Matapos ang matitinding negosasyon, sa huli'y pumayag ang MWM Terminals na hindi na pagbayarin ang ating gobyerno nang kabuuang halagang PhP 3.5 billion na dapat sana'y papasanin ng mga taxpayer nang 35 pang taon. Bukod diyan, bilang patunay sa kanilang pagtitiwala sa pamahalaan, pumayag pa ang MWM Terminals na ibahagi sa gobyerno ang 2% share sa kita nito mula sa mga pauupahang espasyo.

Nang maplantsa na ang mga gusot, kagyat na tinutukan ng administrasyong Duterte ang pagpapatayo ng PITX. At kahapon, pinasinayaan na ang kauna-unahang landport sa bansa.

Hindi dapat nilalagyan ng kulay ang mga proyekto ng gobyerno. Hindi dapat nagtatagisan sa pag-angkin ng mga pampublikong istruktura. Ang mga proyektong tulad ng PITX ay mula sa katas ng pinagpaguran ng mga mamamayan.

Ang PITX ay galing at para sa publiko.