May this Christmas be the first of many,
Each more joyous in our growing love,
Revealing more of happiness than any
Riches might provide or pain remove.
Years flow like an unrepentant river,
Carrying the soil of life away,
Holding far more than they can deliver,
Rushing past the certitudes that stay.
In love there is an instance of forever
So shy and lovely it eludes the eye,
The sense of being home when we're together,
More enduring than a reason why.
As love is born of passion, borne by will,
So may for many years we choose love still.
Justin Bieber - Home This Christmas ---> printable sheet music
From home to home and heart to heart,
From one place to another,
The warmth and joy of Christmas,
Brings us closer to each other.
For a region where Christians are a minority, Asia has a lot of Christmas.
Jingle Bells is as likely to haunt shoppers in malls in Buddhist Bangkok or Islamic Jakarta as it is in London or New York.
And in the background can be heard the massed ringing of
cash-registers in China's southern Guangdong province, Santa's modern
grotto, which exported four billion dollars-worth of toys in the first
nine months of this year.
While it is mainly the commercial and festive charms of Christmas
that have worked their way into end of year celebrations in Asian
countries, the region's Christians keep the religious traditions alive.
In the Philippines, where some 80 percent of the population of about
94 million are Catholics, the season begins with nine pre-dawn masses
from December 16 and ends with the celebration of Epiphany in January.
"The green Santa Claus does not necessarily give out gift boxes to
children, but he tells them how precious the natural environment is,"
said Shoko Ito, director of the Green Santa Foundation.
"Instead of giving gift boxes, he promises children a peaceful and beautiful Christmas time in the future," Ito said.
The group, which deploys a traditional Santa with a long white beard
but clad in a green outfit, raises funds to conserve forests and gives
lectures on environmental issues at schools.
In South Korea, by contrast, children eagerly await Christmas Eve
when parents -- whether among the country's 13.7 million Christians or
not -- shower them with gifts in the name of Santa Claus.
Residents of the southwestern city of Jeonju will also be watching to
see if a secret Santa -- who has donated more than 81 million won
($69,500) since 2000 -- will visit again this year.
He has regularly left donations for needy residents -- phoning in
anonymous tips about where the cash can be found -- but has never been
spotted, local media report.
In communist Vietnam, with about six million Catholics in a
population of 86 million, some churches in the capital Hanoi have been
brightly decorated with lights and red bunting and carols can be heard
in the evenings.
But the commercial side of the festival has also made its mark.
Outside one bar a giant Santa stands on a bed of fluffy fake snow --
clutching to his belly a monstrous can of beer.
Glitzy Hong Kong, however, has produced a real live Santa who in a
recent competition in northern Sweden beat contestants from around the
world in the traditional skills of chimney climbing, gift wrapping and
reindeer racing.
A jubilant Johnny Wong, a 38-year-old magician who had never seen snow
before the contest and does not speak much English, wished everyone
"Happy Christmas" in Cantonese on Swedish television.
While Chinese New Year may be Hong Kong's biggest celebration, the
former British colony still celebrates Christmas with gusto a dozen
years after its return to China.
The city is festooned with Christmas lights, carols are inescapable
in malls and office buildings and some retail workers -- possibly
against their will -- have taken to wearing red Santa hats.
