By Princess Folakemi
Back in the days when I was young , Christmas used to be such a fun fare. I remember how mama used to dress us for the Christmas carols and parties.
I remember playing Mary and my school boy-crush played Joseph in school’s drama. It was a period where we were entitled to chicken laps and a lot of soda and juice. I remember going shopping with mum to get my Xmas gown and accessories.
Mum would have us book parties even a month ahead. It was a time when no one disturbed me about home work or waking up for school. The neighbors brought jollof rice, and we visited friends. Wow! Christmas used to be such a wonderful period in those days.
However, the more mature I grew, the more the fan fare reduced. The joy and the relationship other Christmas’ brought gradually started to reduce. I passed on the street to church last Christmas and there was this beggar on the road, people kept passing and going to church with large coolers of food in the trunk but no one waited to give this man a plate. I started to see really the flaws in just the crazy and wild celebration of a man who was humble till death.
There was this story of a young boy who came home for Xmas, went to see his friends, got so drunk and killed himself and his brother in a motor accident. I see in the streets people pouring large left over of food into the trash. I see more drunks on Christmas than I have seen the whole of the year. I see the clubs full of people who buy drinks the worth of someone else’s networth. I start to wonder in my mind, what really are we celebrating?
Are we really celebrating Jesus Christ? If Jesus Christ was alive and wanted to celebrate his coming into the world, how do you think he would have gone about it? We waste a lot of food and goods on Christmas when the man we are celebrating would share his last meal with the poor. We pass the beggar on the street and go to ‘church’ when the man we are celebrating healed the blind on his way to the synagogue. We give food and gifts to our friends and neighbour’s to celebrate a man who always helped strangers.
If Jesus was really the reason for this season, his life and teachings should be the theme of the season. We should learn to celebrate Jesus in our lives and actions from January 1 to December 25. Only then will people believe that a man came to save us and is worth to be celebrated