Happy Birthday Jesus

"I am so confused." I told Mr. B. tonight after he came back from dinner with a small group of friends to celebrate Christmas Eve. "I just read that Jesus was not actually born on the 25th of December."

"Yeah? What else have you read?" he asked.

"That his real birth date should have been spring or summer, and that the commemoration was moved to replace an ancient Roman festival."

"You probably also read about a lot of conflicting stories, too."

"Yes. Theologians, scholars, historians all have different views and opinions about it - the time, the place, the entire circumstance of Jesus' birth. Do you know which one to believe in?" I inquired.

"No, I don't know." Mr. B. answered. "I don't have to know and I don't think anyone will ever know what the real story was."

"Then why is everyone partying tonight?" I got even more confused. "Why are they celebrating something they don't fully understand?"

"A lot of people don't understand. They don't get it."

"I don't get it too, Mr. B." I said.

"All I know is this - Jesus was born. In his lifetime, he preached about love. In his death, his message spread across the earth. Does it really matter what those theologians, scholars and historians say? The most important thing is the message he bought to the world. The message of love and peace. The exact date of his birth doesn't matter. What matters is that humans decided to pick one day in a year to celebrate his birth, to commemorate the wondrous message he brought."

"So it's not about party and food? and gifts? and snow? and Santa and his reindeers?"

"Never. It has always been about his message. If the world, or at least part of the world can come together for just one day in a year to live Jesus' message of loving and caring and reaching out to others, isn't that great enough? Wouldn't it be a better world? Even for just a day? " he explained.

"I see. Can I say happy birthday to him today?"

"Today is as good as any other day, as long as you remember him and what he stood for."

"I understand now, Mr. B. Can I light the candle in our Nativity this year?"

"Sure."

My Gift To You

Mr. B. was busy wrapping Christmas presents laid out on the table last night. He was still working on them when I woke up at 3.00 in the morning.

"Why do you prepare so many presents for Christmas, Mr. B.?" I asked him hardly able to open my eyes.

"Because there are many people to give presents to," he answered sipping tea to keep him awake. "These are for the people I work with, those are for my close friends, then I got some for my nephews and nieces which I can wrap later."

"I already got my present from D. It's a reindeer horn." I said happily.

"That's great!"

"Didn't you say that Christmas is Jesus' birthday?" I asked.

"Well, yes and no. It's the day set aside to remember his birth, the exact date is really unknown." Mr. B. explained patiently.

"If it is His birthday, why are you giving gifts to other people instead of Him. Isn't that strange?" I inquired.

"It is a tradition. You go out of your way to buy something nice, Wrap it. Write a nice greeting card and give it to someone to make this person happy." he explained.

"So by making other people happy you are also making Jesus happy?" I still don't quite understand.

"I guess so." Mr. B. said as his continued tagging each gift with the recipient's name. "Well, I sure hope so..." he added.

"On my birthday, I want you to please give ME my gift. Don't give it to someone else. I won't be happy if you give it to someone else." I said walking away.

10,000 Beckers

"I have a great idea this Christmas!" Mr. B. said excitingly. "I am going to make 10,000 teddy bears to your likeness, exactly like you. I will sell them for charity and raise 1 million dollars. But the donors will not get the teddy bears. They will be given to orphans! So 10,000 orphans will have their own Beckers this Christmas. And the donors will be very glad to know that they make 10,000 children happy this holidays! Plus, you get to promote your blog! Isn't that a great idea??"

I gave him a strange look. "I don't think that will happen, Mr. B."

"Why not? I think it's a great way to celebrate Christmas! Making children happy!"

"You will be sued for trademark infringement, Mr. B." I said dryly.

"I will be?" he said giving me a puzzled look.

"Big time, Mr. B."

"Maybe I can change the look a little bit, say..."

"Trademark infringement." I interrupted.

"Okay, how about printing your picture in 10,000 t-shirts!"

"Illegal use of image."

"Really? That bad? Or maybe I can take you to the orphanage and you can sing songs for the children and make them happy this Christmas?"

"Music copyright. You need permission for public performance."

"Oh.... what about you lip-synching?"

"Worse. Illegal public broadcast of a copyrighted material."

"I give up!" Mr. B. declared. "I will just print t-shirt with your blog address and sell them for charity."

"Then you will have to ask MY permission."

"Oh..."

Give Me A Break!

As promised, Mr. B. and D. took me to a tour around the city over the weekend just to do something different. They booked a hotel room and checked-in after lunch. It was a very nice room with a large comfy bed.

After leaving our bags, Mr. B. took me to the place where he works. I didn't like it that much but he let me sit on his desk and pretend that I am working (why I would like to do that, I don't know). After spending a bit of time there, we went to this fabulous dimsum dinner where we had dumplings, spring rolls, tofu casserole and fried rice. Yummy!

When we were all full, we went to this shopping mall with a huge round globe. Mr. B. said we should shop for a bit because we were waiting for the 9.30 screening of the movie 2012. We had fun looking around for bargains although Mr. B. and D. didn't buy anything.

The movie 2012 was entertaining. I liked the special effects a lot. It's kinda scary to think how the world would end but it's only a movie. By the time we finished watching, it was already past midnight so we went back to the hotel to rest. Mr. B. bought ice cream bar to eat.

The next morning, we had a big, big breakfast at the hotel coffee shop. Mr. B. had congee and condiments plus an egg. D. had a combination of Eastern and Western style breakfast plus a large omelette with everything in it! We were so full we didn't have lunch!

After coming back home and leaving our bags, we went shopping again! Mr. B. bought a lot of stuff which he said are Christmas presents for the people in the farm. He also bought a new frying pan for himself. Because we have been quite tired walking around, Mr. B. and D. decided to have a foot massage, which I didn't not do because I don't want anyone touching my paws (feet). Dinner was roasted pork and cream of corn soup. We also went by the supermarket to buy some groceries.

We all came home exhausted. So this is what humans do on weekends. It was fun for me. I hope Mr. B. can find time to do it more often. I have added some photos taken from this weekend in the slideshow to remind me of the good times we all had.

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Photo credit : Patrick Beckers