Although I am writing this on Christmas Day, this piece comes out only by December 28. So, a belated Merry Christmas to one and all, and hope that your fondest wishes for Christmas have been granted.

Christmas gift-giving is a tradition that dates back to ancient Rome, pre-Christ, during the winter solstice, the shortest day and the longest night of the year, which was celebrated during the Saturnalia holiday, a Roman celebration honoring the god of bounty Saturn when temple sacrifices, gift-giving, and carnivals were the social norms.

As Christianity became widespread in the Roman territories, at about 330 AD, this saturnalian custom, particularly the gift-giving tradition, started to be associated with the birth of Christ and the biblical story about the gifts of the Magis to the baby Jesus. By about the fourth century, the story of Saint Nicholas, a popular home-spun legend about a Christian bishop of Greek descent noted for his generous gift-giving and intercessor for several miracles, reinforced the custom and is now most associated with the modern-day Santa Claus.

With the advent of commerce and trade, spurred on by aggressive consumerism-oriented marketing ploys of the advertising world, Christmas as we know it now, is far from Christianity's hallowed celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ which marks the watershed for His gift of salvation from mankind's plunge into the dark depths of nothingness after death and instead shown forevermore the path to the exultation of eternal bliss.

This gift is of course not just for those who have lived as faithful followers of Christ but for all who may eventually choose to accept His ways, particularly at the moment of truth of one's mortality.

Unfortunately, during Christmastime, the ethereal notion of this gift of eternal salvation, which should be marked by love as well as self-negation, is often overshadowed by man's propensity to favor fleeting pleasures over self-sacrifice.

Thus we are inundated by the annual Yuletide ritual and mad frenzy for buying gifts galore, overflowing food during parties, and wistful yearning for most cherished wishes. As a consequence, we often forget why we even celebrate Christmas.

But hold on, where am I going with all these thoughts? Well, to begin with, let me tell you why this reverie. Recently, in preparation for the 50th Golden Jubilee celebration next year of AIM's MBM Class of 73, each class member was asked to reflect on life's lessons over the past 50 years since graduation. Ruminating on this on Christmas day at the beach with nothing to do except daydream seems as good a time as any.