By Joe Kingsley Eyiah, OCT, Brookview Middle School, Toronto-Canada

“To Every Thing There Is a Season……….”

Speaking at my school Holiday Concert on December 18, 2013 I drew the attention of my audience to an unfortunate situation that I noticed in my classroom a few days ago. My students had decided to pair themselves up for exchange of gifts in the spirit of the Christmas season. They used balloting for the pairing! To my disbelief, some students refused to accept their pairs during the balloting! Why? They did not like those students they had picked. How unfortunate!! This spirit goes against what Christmas stands for!

I personally do not believe that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was born in December which is snow time in Bethlehem (note that the shepherds could not be out there in the field at that time) yet the birth of Christ if is celebrated almost the world-over whenever with love, joy, giving and peace unto humankind then it is the best time to reflect on the life and work of Christ for the world. However, Christmas is increasingly being defined by shallow materialism, and proliferate spending which, is gradually overshadowing the lessons associated with why Christ was born to the world.

The Good Book says, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die;.. a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. Whether you believe it or not, there is one MAN whose birth and death are widely celebrated throughout the world.

Around the world during this time we remember and celebrate the birth of the Son of Man called Jesus Christ, hence the naming of this season-CHRISTmas! It is said, “Christians must keep CHRIST in CHRISTmas.” What does Christmas mean to you, especially if you are Christian?

Back to my classroom! I had given a Visual Art assignment to all my Grade 8 students (about 167) to design seasonal greeting cards as the calendar year was drawing to a close. The success criteria for the work included clear but brief message for one of the following seasons: Eid, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, and Diwali. To my surprise, all the students designed greeting cards for Christmas. That’s the season! However, the common message was, ‘Happy Holiday’.

Lessons of Love, Peace, Joy & Giving

The Bible talks about a child who was to be born and that He would deliver mankind from the bondage of sin. That He would be called Prince of Peace, King of Kings- IMMANUEL, meaning ‘God with Us’! (Luke 2:1-20). ‘For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten son (Christ)….’ The greatest lesson associated with CHRISTmas is LOVE accompanied by GIVING. Truly, the Christmas season sees a lot of GIVING but is it motivated by LOVE? Unfortunately, many give to show that they have not because they love. The true story of a blind man and his pet (guide dog for many years) which gripped people of Toronto to give this month could not fall short of love. The blind man had unfortunately slipped unto the train tracks while waiting for the train at a subway station. His pet and best friend, the dog named ‘Orlando’ spontaneously jumped on top of him when it saw a train approaching. They laid still in the middle of the tracks for the train to pass over them. The blind man sustained few bruises but his friend, Orlando, was not hurt! While at the hospital, the blind man kept asking about the condition of his pet-friend which, he was to give up for adoption soon because he no longer had enough money to keep it. Such a wonderful friendship was to be broken no sooner than later! However, their ‘unfortunate’ story moved the hearts of many to give over $80,000 to the blind man to retain his friend, Orlando! What a joy!

The season of Christmas is a time of giving and giving brings joy. Where is the joy in some parts of the world as we celebrate Christmas? There is no peace in places like Syria, the new nation of South Sudan and Central African Republic where thousands of human beings including even children who should be singing at this time, ‘joy to the world’ are being massacred! Unfortunately, the world is constantly sacrificing the lessons of Love, Peace, Joy and Giving associated with the birth of Christ on the altar of commercialization of CHRISTmas. The burning question is: when will this change? Let’s learn the lessons of love, peace, joy and giving that the birth of Christ teaches us!!

To all my readers, I wish you Happy Eid! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanza! Happy Diwali! MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!