It’s that time of year when the airwaves will be filled with tales of Christmas. Over the years there have been so many poignant and joyful stories and fantasies played out on the silver screen. There’s always Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life with the late-great Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed to look forward to seeing for the 100th time; Dr. Suess’ The Grinch That Stole Christmas; and dozens of versions of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. And as for me, having for so long been one of the bah-humbug persona (until now, that is), I have a fondness for Bill Murray’s Scrooged, a wacky and comedic take on Dickens’ classic moralistic tale of greed and redemption in which I can’t help but see a wee bit of myself in Bill’s warped character.

There is another film in the same vein, featuring one who is pragmatic, has great doubts, and in all reality could be called cynical. Ironically, though, it’s a little girl displaying such a grown-up dark side in Miracle on 34th Street, played by a very young Natalie Wood. The key plot element is her disbelief in Santa Claus, until she meets Kris Kringle, who claims to be the real deal. But it was only after talking to my fiancée in the Philippines that I was led to discover the true meaning and real deal behind the phrase Kris Kringle.

While sharing with her our Christmas traditions and my holiday plans, I mentioned that we had drawn names in my family to swap gifts. She informed me that they too did the same, but they call it picking lots, and the name you choose is the one that becomes your Kris Kringle. To say the least, I was a bit confused-imagine that! When I asked her what she meant, telling her that Kris Kringle was Santa Claus, she told me that that was one of their traditions and what they called it and she had never researched the origin. That being so, I began one of my odysseys through the corridors of cyberspace in search of, which turned out to be a short journey seeing that I found the answers immediately.

This ritual is known around the world under different names, all meaning the same concept: Secret Santa. Here in the US it’s called Kris Kringle, named after Santa Claus, though I had never heard it called that. All we ever said was, “Let’s draw names!”. The phrase itself comes from the original name of the German gift-bringer Christkindl which means Child Jesus. In the Latin American countries it’s called amigo secreto or amigo invisible, secret or invisible friend. Another variation, used specifically in parts of Pennsylvania, is Pollyana. Whatever the term used, it refers to the practice per se and/or any of the participants, be they givers or receivers, thus clarifying why she said the name she chose was her Kris Kringle, though she is actually the Secret Santa.

The idea of the Santa being a secret one comes from the fact that the names can be chosen and when the gift given, the giver can remain anonymous. Another way of doing it allows the person to put on their name slip a short I-want-list of items so the giver can have an idea of what to buy, which is the way we do it in my family, as well as having a price limit set on the amount to be spent on the gift.

What I found interesting and very refreshing in talking to my fiancée, especially coming on the heels of our Black Friday and Cyber Monday, gluttonous days of American consumerism, was the price limit they had set on the gifts to be bought: 50 PHP, Philippine pesos, which is equal to $1.00 American. And here we have in my family set a limit of $25.00, which would be 1250 PHP, an extravagant amount in their culture and economy. But there, they are more into celebrating the season for the reason, as well as enjoying friends and family in love, more so than in the idea of the importance of the gifts and the amount spent; a wonderful idea.

Still, it is the most important of all holidays in the Philippines and I was amazed to find on my arrival there this past August that the celebrations had already begun. Carols were being played on the radio and the stores and malls were in the process of putting up their Christmas displays and decorations. And as early as September carolers were strolling the streets during the evening hours regaling their neighbors with songs of the season. I always felt we began our Christmas too early here, but being a predominately Catholic nation, I came to understand the reason for their joy and great celebration of this most special of all religious holidays.