I remember as the ember months neared, my father with the little he had made it a custom of journeying to Aba or Onitsha for our Christmas clothing and shoes. My mother was in charge of other extra ‘girlie’necessities such as earrings and necklaces for the girls. I do not remember whether the boys in the family ever got any extra things other than the usual traditional gifts from mom and dad. Due to the number of children my parents had, nine to be more precise, money was a big issue. Christmas time was the acid test. Our dad was not only meticulous about details but he made sure that the familial mantra was “buy, use, reuse, and use again until age do you apart” This is to say, for him whatever he bought would be used and no newly purchased items for us could ever become passé and unwanted. Do you get my point? If you did not experience my case in your childhood, then take this as an introduction to the lives of a Nigerian family that was half poor and half well-to-do in terms of local challenges and family fortunes.  What I am saying is that as kids we dealt with what we had and kept going as if everything was cool. Those who went through similar experiences can be witnesses, for they can hear my words and feel the tone of my voice.

Christmas, for me and my siblings was a time for new dresses and new shoes. I swear we got no new shoes except during this month and when we go back to school after the holidays; we often ask our parents why they did not have lots of money. My dad, who saw and treated us as his best friends, would always reply that all their monies were invested in nine banks. By analogy each of us is a bank into which they invest their resources, thereby hoping and praying for better yields. During family palaver my elder sister, Chidi   Orji (nee Mbachu) would ask to be given her part of the family investment in a bank of her choice. She would press on this fact over and over again until my dad gave her the proverbial one Naira. Stupid girl! One would see her jumping up and down in excitement. 

Christmas was the most beautiful moment for me as a child growing up in Nigeria . When men were men, women were women and children were children. I was a child then acted like a child and enjoyed like a child. We use to have what was then called ‘ Egwu   Umuabgho ’. During the 8 days of Christmas, we would go from one village to another, one market place to another dressed in traditional wrappers borrowed from mothers, going around singing and dancing, collecting gifts in form of money, soda or food. Although at home we had to be forced to eat but the moment we were outside we ate everything given to us by strangers. Strange right? That was the spirit of Christmas, giving and sharing. At the end of the 8^th day all the money collected would be shared among the children. I and my sisters used to have lots of money at this time of the year. Some of us then would use the money to buy fanciful .pencils or books. And the rest?  Ha-ha ha.; daa bum daa! Ask our mom. Our mother acted as the self-appointed banker for us. We never saw our earnings as days, weeks and years went by. I have often wondered whether she saw herself as the tenth bank. She was our central bank after all.

 This was not just peculiar to girls alone; the boys were also doing their own things with masks and masquerades which was my favorite. The only time of the year I tried hard to act well was during Christmas for the fear I might be grounded and thereby be stopped to follow the masqueraders around.  Seriously speaking, growing up in Nigeria was full of intrigues, fun and umoja.

 Then the big bang, Nigeria is not what it used to be years ago.  There is a different audience and different conversation among our youths today. I went home last December I waited for the masquerades in market places. It was like waiting for Godot. Nothing came and only frustrations multiplied. The only spectacle that captured my attention was sight of boys dressed in baggy jeans with inscriptions such as “I love New York , We’re the Yankees”. Then with some kind of little masks they were holding, seeing you approaching, they would quickly cover their faces with it and quickly remove it and ask you to give them some money. I am not lying; one of the kids told me that he would prefer Euro than Dollars because according to him Euro was stronger than Dollars. I was like WOW!     Back in the time, we never asked for anything, people would give us gifts, with what ever they can afford.

Currently, the air is filled with hopes, prayers, dreams and messages of anticipation on the African Christian mind largely due to the historical and spiritual joy of honoring the birthday of Christ. As John Mbiti, the Kenyan theologian wrote many years ago, Christ is a bridge between the heavenly kingdom and the terrestial domain of Man. Salvation lies in climbing onto that bridge and investing thought and practice in adoration of the Creator. The reason why the coming of Christmas is significant to many of us lies in the connecting of emotional and spiritual dots that constitute our memories of life and hope. Billions of bits and pieces of joyful moments race in my mind as I recalled travels with parents and relatives in memory of happy days when the dead were alive and both they and those of us still alive celebrated in peace and love. Another point for the anticipation and the great expectation is the sense of human solidarity that modern technologies have brought into our possession and made possible. Now as I live and dream about my future within the borders of the United States of America, I have the technological means to link up with my family back in Africa in a variety of ways. I may have the financial ability to travel directly to Nigeria and join my family and friends this season. Alternatively, because of a number of restraining factors which influence my circumstances, I may well spend the remaining days of December in the U.S. and the joy of the big event would be shared with family, friends and in America. But, regardless of my choice of travelling to Nigeria to celebrate or not to travel to celeberate at all, my connections with those in Africa could benefit immeasurably from my cell phone, my home telephone, my computer and my West Union card. These coziness can extend my ego and broaden my outreach to family and friends over there. Thank God for giving us science and technology to do what our ancestors just centuries if not decades ago could not do in these days of the Christmas period. 

 But while making such statements about Christmas and its impact on the African Christians I have some misgivings about the history of Christmas and the manner in which my experiences of it in America has affected my thinking and feelings about it. Revisiting the origins of this event and how it has developed in America. Christmas is an annual holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus. According to some sources, “Christmas festivities often combine the commemoration of Jesus' birth with various secular customs, many of which have been influenced by earlier winter festivals. The date as a birthdate for Jesus is traditional, and is not considered to be his actual date of birth.” In many parts of the world where European Christianity has spread Christmas Day is celebrated on December 25. The day before is also celebrated as Christmas Eve. In the United Kingdom and elsewhere in the Commonwealth December 26 is remembered as Boxing Day. Americans do not have this tradition. In most Catholic countries in Latin America December 26 is called St Stephen’s Day or the Feast of St Stephens. But while pointing to the universality of the celebration on December 25, one should quickly add that not all Christians embrace this date. The Amenian Apostolic Church observe Christmas on January 6. Eastern Orthodox such as the Egyptians, Ethiopians and others in the Middle East celebrate it on January 7.  This disparity lies in the controversy of dates according to the Gregorian or Julian Calendars. We are Gregorians and they are Julians. The two calendars are separated by thirteen days. Hence their preference for January and our yearning for December. For us in Nigeria and Africa south of the Sahara we celebrate in the company of the Hamattan weather while they sing and dream about a White Christmas!

 Christmas in America, one must point out that since the majority of the founding fathers of the thirteen colonies were from Anglo-Saxon background the tradition and practice have reflected much of that history. The various churches that came out of the British experience have impacted our understanding of the tradition and practice. Thousands of sermons and Christmas songs have floated out of the mouths of preachers and musicians over the centuries and new traditions that are not related to Christ have crept into the African, American and Western imaginations. Not only did the puritans celebrate Christmas in their own way, but their successors in New England and elsewhere in the country have added their own.

 Among the most fascinating and disturbing aspects of the Christmas season in America today is the absolute comercialization of the event. Americans are lured into a buying spree sometimes before Thanksgiving. The advertising agencies through TV, Radio and newspapers ring alarm bells to seduce the buyers the way mythical Greek Sirens seduce men with their captivating voices. The mall, an American innovation that has taken the Greek, Roman and British shopping places to new heights, has become the moral counterpart to the temple beseiged by Christ before his final encounter with the Jewish Sanhedren and Pontius Pilate in the New Testaments. Not only are the malls better frequented than the cathedrals and churches most of the time, but they have become the places where young people converge and engage with their own pranks and schemes. There are food stalls, electronic shops and other store houses of creature comforts. So attractive have been the malls that sociologists and journalists have come up with the term mall rats to describe certain young people who are active in these places in more destructive manner than the church mouse. So concerned are certain Americans about this state of affairs that they now organize demonstrations against this phenomenon. One One television recently reported about an actor who is opposed to this state of affairs in the country and urges fellow Americans to shy away from the tentacles of the  promoters of commericialization of the holiday. With his supporters, this gentleman parades in malls and business places where his message is designed to wake Americans up from their deep sleep. Real or imagined, the fact remains that Christmas is remembered by many because of their credit charges and the gagets store in their closets.

Another dimension about Christmas that deserves serious attention is the manner in which it has been trivialized and distorted in the imaginations of young Americans and many Westerners. Although many Christians still try to capture the heritage and the tradition about young Jesus and his humble birth in a manger somewhere in Bethleheim, the common narrative told to young Americans and many others in the world today is the story of Santa Claus and his deers. Although the name Santa Claus is derived from the original Dutch word for St. Nicholas of Myra in Byzantium who is remembered as a bishop known for his generosity towards the poor. This gift-giving religious leader enterered the imaginations of people of Holland, Belgium, Germany and other parts of Europe. Coming to America through the immigrants from these countries, and later supported by the writings of Charles Dickens who is better remebered in this context as the author of Christmas Carol, Santa Claus or Father Christmas is now a part of the creative imaginations of American and Western kids. Dickens is the inventor of the other names given to Santa Claus.

This intellectual and cultural creation of Santa Claus in popular circles has given many young people in America the annual expectation of Santa Claus descending into their chimneies dropping valuable goods from their love ones. Santa Claus has become so popular in the youthful imagination that Jesus Christ himself is less thought about and discussed in these ranks.

Concluding this brief narrative, let me close with the following points. One is the power and the significance of Christmas as a birthday celebration and its implications for Man and his destiny in this world. For Christians Jesus is the son of God and his crucifixion and resurrection  are the source of salvation, then the humanity of Africa is elevated to higher spiritual grounds through this encounter with the Savior. The second is the fact that Africans are part of the Abrahamic tradition and this event provides the opportunity for them to embrace one another in Christian  fellowship without denying the humanity of their Jewish and Muslim neighbors with whom we share Abraham as exposed by writers in the interfaith movement. Last but not least, one should also say that Africa has much to give and Christmas is one such moment for Africans to reassure themselves that they have a big role to play in the century and beyond.

Merry Christmas to All

Robot  Villager

# 1 ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 14.12.2007 03:26