When I was a child, I looked forward to 25th December like mad -as we say where I come from. I expected and almost always got new clothes, new shoes, and of course the inevitable rice and stew. The day also afforded my brothers and sisters rare freedom to go a-visiting, a-dancing, a-playing, etc. As a child, I thought Christmas was the best and ought to hold on every other day.

However, Christmas things have tended to be different ever since adulthood gave my childhood technical knockout. Becoming a husband and father and benefactor seized and ceased my Christmas sweetness; no thanks to the buffeting of bills and religion. For 25 years and more, I have lived in dread of Christmas; in fact, of December. Every year, once November begins to quicken the buildup to its crescendo, my heart and head run riot thinking about the bills that must be paid, expectations that must be met and generally, since ours is a terribly patriarchal, communal, entitlement-crazy society, the needs of others that must be provided for.

Notwithstanding, both December and Christmas remain what they have always been, what they always are and what they shall always be. December and Christmas are a golden opportunity to reflect, restrategise and refocus. When performed, all three steps ensure that you finish strong and reposition for a better future. While December is the golden opportunity to think deeply over how the succeeding 11 months panned out, its 25th day is specifically the golden opportunity to recollect how wholly God loves mankind; giving us His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.

In more ways than one, no one remains the same after every December and every Christmas. The sweetest part of the deal is that this transformative aspect knows no religion, no gender and no race. Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists, Traditionalists et al are united by the essence of December as well as by the power of Christmas. Just as nobody would want to not learn from or not do away with the mistakes of the past, nobody would want to not feel or not emulate the love that radiates from the story and reminder of the birth of Jesus.

Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of Christmas 2022. First though, let’s all be on the same page by understanding Christmas the way it is and should be. To save humanity from sin-imposed eternal destruction, God offered us eternal salvation by allowing His only begotten Son, Jesus, as sacrifice. The day that this supreme love came to the earth, to man, is what the world celebrates as Christmas.

However, Christmas far transcends a day or even the mere celebration that has become concomitant with it. People should never forget that in matters of faith or divine relationship it’s insulting and insensitive to question some things; for instance, how sure are Christians that Christ was born on this day? Again, Christmas is not about a day or the day; Christmas is the consciousness, the knowledge that God so loved man that He became man (that is, God gave His son) to save man. I concede that it sounds somehow, but you too would readily concede that there’s nothing about faith that doesn’t sound somehow.

Just as we have come to realise that a gift is less important than the intention behind it, the believer who has internalised the spirit behind Christmas knows that it is beyond the day on which the birth happened. Christmas is really about the supremacy of love; about the selflessness of love; about the allness of love. Christmas speaks to man in a way nothing else does. Christmas defines the love of God and simultaneously addresses the selfish nature of man.

Christmas teaches man to demote or reduce himself and enjoy the promotion or increase of others. Christmas teaches the defeat of flesh, of self, of greed. Christmas teaches man to meditate on the goodness of God and in the process glean some lessons therefrom with a view to better co-existing with fellow man. Are you learning from Christmas, at all?

Out here for the Christmas holidays with Mrs. Nneka Irene BUSH in Ikot Ekpene, headquarters of Ikot Ekpene, the oldest local government area in Nigeria, this writer has had 48 hours of pure bliss in comfort and quiet. Just by the way, everyone should visit this place in the heart of Ikot Ekpene, the Raffia City. I shall keep coming back, myself. As I was saying, these for me have been my most judiciously spent 48 hours in the last two decades.

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This entry is a product of the period in question. Ruminating on it, I have come to the conclusion that Christmas is both an introduction and a summary. Christmas introduces love to man. Christmas is as well a summary of love.

Christmas teaches that love is the greatest. God, in spite of and despite being totally self-sufficient, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent, still went ahead to fall over backwards to rescue man. When man fell, God did not need man but He had to make Himself man to rescue man. The message that Christmas throws up here is that we should not only help those we would need or those who help(ed) us.

Henceforth, if you are at war with anyone: reach out and reconcile. If you have someone you swore never again, reach out and forgive. If someone made you bitter: reach out and let go. If someone hates you: reach out and love them.

This indeed is the whole essence of Christmas. In addition, seeing that everything about God is orderly and deliberate, have you ever wondered why Christmas comes in the nick of time every year? Christmas happens just before a year rounds off so that you can be reminded to shed the extra weight occasioned by anger, unforgiveness, greed, hate and such other evils before the new year. Christmas holds at the end of one year to clean us up in preparation for the beginning of another.

Whether you know Christ, never forget or joke with the foregoing. Christmas is one golden opportunity we should never miss. This Christmas window, reach out and show someone some love, some kindness, some friendship. Going forward, strive to be Christlike, more and more: in conduct and in speech.

Share your food, your content, your money, your time and above all, yourself as much as possible. Help people in need, even those who are too stupid or arrogant or ashamed they reject your offer. Insist and you shall be shocked to see in future when they eventually come to their senses how grateful  to you they shall forever be. And, you, dear Saint, which of us accepted or accepts Christ that easily?

For Nigerians in particular, Christmas holiday 2022 is in some sense the last golden opportunity. Those of us who are 18 and above must reflect on the hole that our country is in and decide in the spirit of patriotism and truth whether this is the best for us. Secondly, if a change is better and possible courtesy of the 2023 ballot. And thirdly, if we are ready to go for it. As I see it, this make-or-mar Christmas is our last golden opportunity: it is all up to us to get back our country.

God bless Nigeria!