Today is a special day. Today is a special day and not because of a man named Santa or the gifts under the fir trees. Today is special because today we are together. We are with family, friends, loved ones and our thoughts are filled with joy and unselfishness. Days and months from now we will wish to relive thess few days with our family. We would like to overdo the cooking, the gifts, the toast, the cake and the conversations with our loved ones. X-mas comes once a year and yet the moment stays with us a whole year, and sometimes even longer. It is the most intimate reunion of the year.
In Africa Christmas celebration is a big deal. I mean what can you expect from the most religious continent in the world. Just as we beat the world in worshiping we beat you in celebration as well. Rich or poor we celebrate Christmas like it is our last day on earth. This is all possible due to the fact we do not need much to celebrate the birth of Christ. In the western world and rich people elsewhere are stressed out about things that do not matter. X-mas spirit should not be measured by gifts or tall trees. What matters on a X-Mas day is togetherness and the sincere smile of your loved ones. As a child seeing my mother smiling and kicking jokes with us after a stressful year was everything to me. It meant the world to me. We didn’t have much but that smile was priceless. And every year I was looking out for three things: Christmas special cooking, new clothing and above all the smile on my mother’s face through out the day.
Now I know that no matter how hard you try to forget the daily hardship on this few days, at times it is impossible. Some of you have lost someone dearly, leaving you with an empty seat at the table. People are on the prison phone wishing their loved ones a merry x-mas. Young kids are staring at the door hoping the Santa has found their fathers, which will not happen. People have lost their job and sons and daughters are on the frontline fighting a war and they will not make it home this X-mas. This and many more sadness is making it hard for some of us to embrace the Christmas spirit whole heartedly. But I hope my last words give you some kind of comfort when I say the best Christmas are the ones we celebrate in our hearts.
Happy Christmas to you world.