As a child, I remember waiting for Christmas meant waiting to put up all the decorations, waiting to get to eat the Christmas cookies we had been making, watching all the gifts under the tree pile up, and finally waiting to see what was in my Christmas stocking.
As I live in Nigeria, my children experience some of these material parts of Christmas, the decorations, the cookies, and the stockings. But most Nigerians don’t think about Christmas until school is out and they decide where they will spend it; in their homes in the city or in the village where most people prefer and usually have a home. Of course my experiences come from northern Nigeria.
City Christmas doesn’t have much more than going to church and visiting family that might live nearby, but in the village, they DANCE! But still, there are few preparations, it just happens. All of a sudden, the church is decorated with lots of flashy decorations and lights around the altar, and the women and youth present their songs and dramas and after a long Christmas Eve Service everyone goes to the village center and the dancing starts.
On Christmas Day neighbors and extended family members exchange pots of rice and stew, little doughnut holes, a drink called kunun zaki or other foods they have an abundance of. Children wander around in groups in their new clothes (new clothes is usually their only gift from their parents) and collect Christmas sweets or a little money from extended family and friends.
At church, there is another long service lasting three to five hours. Then, after lunch, they gather at the village center again and the Boys Brigade parade around and a program is presented by some village group.
In the evenings, sometimes for several evenings, the dancing will continue until the wee hours of the morning. Sometimes a specific night might focus on the women or the men, but then the youth will take over and dance until they drop. Occasionally the youth will stay outside your compound singing and singing until you pay something to send them on their way.
While Christmas is celebrated with lots of fanfare in the village, I find I still have to search for the fragments of Christmas that are familiar and give meaning to my celebration. Usually I find meaning most in the scripture words that we read; the angels’ song and the shepherds’ awe, and the birth of the babe, Mary basking in the babe’s glory and knowing that Christ is still among us. That is what my Christmas involves. While I enjoy the village experience and feel very comforable with the extended family there, I find myself experiencing it more through my children's eyes and trying not to think of my own family in the US.
No matter how I many traditions I try to bring from my upbringing, it always seems to come down to Christ's birth and sharing time with family and friends that gives me the most joy to my Christmas.
May you each celebrate Christmas in a way that allows you too to bask in the babe’s glory so that the wonder of Christ’s birth might fill your hearts with peace and hope for the new year. Peace is something I crave this year, both inner peace and peace around me. May God's Peace, Love, Joy, and Hope fill your holiday season and the New Year.
Merry Christmas! Barka da Krismati! Happy Christmas!
Dorthea
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment