Philippine Asian News Today Vol 18 No 23 | Page 14

A14 PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY December 1 - 15 , 2016

Life etc .

by Jun Cordero

Believe it or not - it ’ s Christmas !

Aahh - it ’ s Christmas time once more ! ‘ Tis the season to be merry , and to be nice to every one you meet ! Christmas tree , Yuletide carols , presents for every one ! If you ’ re more of the religious type then the Advent season brings more solemnity and holiness , forgiveness and acceptance , midnight mass and Misa Cantata .
But before I get carried away with all the joy and good things of Christmas I ’ d like to pull back a little and look closely what this season is really about ( this is all but natural for ageing folks like me .)
First understand that Christianity has its roots from God ’ s chosen people - the ancient Jewish nation . Naturally it follows that our Christmas tradition also has the same roots . Well , yes and not really .
Take for example that Nativity scene we have on our fireplace mantel , the yard or church . The bright star , the three Kings , and the shepherds .
You see , many generations before Jesus ’ time , Israel and Judah ( that ’ s
the Jewish nation ) were destroyed by the ancient evil empires of Babylon and Assyria ( modern-day Iraq , Syria and other parts ). Most of the Jews were taken captive and exiled to Babylon , that time the world ’ s seat for learning , science and culture . Many of what we have today were products of the ingenuity of the Babylonian scientists , scholars and astronomers . They were so good that they were referred to as “ wise men ” or magicians - or magi .
The Babylonians were pagans and practiced idolatry , worshipping just about everything including the moon , planets and the stars . Now these Babylonian wise men or magi , they were the first to map out the constellations and gave meaning to each one , relating each heavenly body and their movement to some divine message from their gods , including predicting the future ( the basis of today ’ s horoscope ).
These wise men eventually became familiar with the religion of their captive Jews , including the prophecy about the coming Messiah .
With their knowledge of the skies and the Jewish prophecy they put two and two together and was able to calculate when the Messiah is to be born and where , which was at a time when three or four planets were to align . Modern-day scholars believe the alignment of the planets produced a very bright light - the star !
And so the wise men from the “ east ” ( Babylon ) did believe that a King is to be born on their calculated date at their calculated location , based on the aligned planets position ( the star ).
Here are some facts : There was no airplane yet so they started travelling by foot many months before - some modern scholars say by the time they arrived , Jesus probably was already about four years old and , as the Bible say , was already living in a “ house ” ( there goes your manger ). And there could have been more than “ three ” wise men ( these were rich people so they had a huge entourage ). By calculating
back , many scholars believe Jesus wasn ’ t actually born on December 25 but sometime summer or fall ( hence shepherds were sleeping in the fields ) - early Roman pagan celebrations happened in December so it was said early Roman Christians eventually adopted that date instead .
The truth is many of our Christmas traditions - the Christmas tree , lights , Yuletide logs , gift-giving , feasting , etc . had nothing to do with the Nativity . History has it that the early Christians adapted to all these to win over pagans in order to
convert them to Christianity .
Well , I grew up believing that Christmas is Christmas . Besides , who cares about dates and places and whether planets aligned or not . What we know is that one day God became man , the start of His long designed process of giving us the chance to renew our relationship with Him . And that ’ s enough for me , and hopefully for you as well .
My wife and I and all our wonderful kids and grandkids wish you all a wonderful and Merry Christmas !

Life Happens … Can your Home Help ?

MYLENE LIM , AMP Licensed Mortgage Specialist
Benjamin Franklin once said there are only two things certain in life : death and taxes . The best you can do is to prepare for the unexpected as much as you can so you always end up on your feet . But “ life happens ”, so no matter how much you try to be prepared for whatever challenges come your way , life will always throw a curve that could sucker punch you off your feet .
You or a loved one may have had health issues that caused a big dent on your savings . You may have been laid off from work or you may have quit to look for greener pastures . You may have made investments or home renovations or simply racked up credit card bills over time . Or you may simply just want to retire and enjoy life while you can . Whatever the reason may be , the bottom line is you need cash .
Have you considered
tapping on the equity of your home for help ? There may be sufficient increase in your property ’ s value to tide you over , put you back on track or start you on your own personal ventures . For some , this opportunity could mean getting rid of the constant gnawing at the pit of the stomach worrying about money . For others , this could mean a chance to a better , brighter future .
I have had discussions with numerous clients on how to help get them out of the financial bind they find themselves in . I will use a common scenario I ’ ve had with clients to illustrate this point . A client had maxed out her high interest credit cards to the tune of $ 50,000 and is paying around $ 1,000 a month , just on minimum required monthly payments . She unsuccessfully struggled to make ends meet and her credit score had taken a beating . After crunching some numbers with her , she was able to borrow $ 100,000 against her home on an equity take out – she paid all her card debts of $ 50,000 and still had $ 50,000 left to make life more comfortable than it had been for a few years . Her monthly payment for the additional $ 100,000 was as only $ 590 / month . In a year , when her credit record has sufficiently recovered , she will enjoy an even lower monthly payment at around $ 450 a month based on today ’ s prevailing rate .
Other than situations not within your control , the best way to avoid creditors breathing down your neck is , of course , to be responsible with how you spend your money . To realize that those little plastic cards come with a heavy price when you become too fond of them .
So if you find yourself in a difficult situation financially , tapping your home ’ s increased equity may solve some of your financial woes . There are literally hundreds of mortgage products out in the market that can help you out . Talk to a mortgage specialist to discuss if this is an option for you .
Mylene Lim is an
WWW . PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY . COM
experienced licensed mortgage broker at Dominion Lending Centres-Clear Mortgage . She goes over and beyond to work with her clients
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