Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Nehemiah 8:10

My boyhood Christmas days! Boy, what fun!

Foggy mornings, cold nights, campfires and roasted plantains with salted fish. The legendary Kwaku Ananse folklore filled the nights with laughter and life lessons. Kwaku always assumed the highest moral ground, claimed wisdom above all, and let everybody know it. But there was always his son Ntikoma to deflate him with higher wisdom. Like the Book of Proverbs, those Ananse stories instructed us about life and endowed us with wisdom.

What is Christmas without Christmas trees? That’s where the Ashanti creativity and ingenuity shined and peered through the veil to showcase an atmosphere of beauty and joy. Plantain trees substituted for the pine of the West, adorned with fresh-cut flowers and Oven Fresh Biscuits threaded into a variety of shapes. And true to our fallen nature, a competitive spirit pushed us to outdo one another. What fun we had preparing for Christmas!

Church service was more of dressing and attention-seeking than worship. The nativity story was always presented with festive presentations in the churches. Choral groups from different churches filled the air of the neighborhoods with carols at dawn.

The greatest anticipation of every child was the opportunity to receive a new cloth or dress from parents. For some of us, Christmas was the only period to receive the blessing of a pair of shoes or sandals; and we eagerly looked forward to the occasion. The joy of the occasion, therefore, was the material things it held for us, not necessarily the spiritual insight.

Twenty-six December brought along feasting. Why the Brits call it Boxing Day is beyond me. For, it was all about food and feasting. Wives in multi-family homes competed for the hearts of their husbands with their best culinary skills. As turkey is to American Thanksgiving Day, so was chicken to the Ashanti Christmas. But, the best part for me as a child was dressing up and going around to greet family and neighbors. We counted who got the most candies, cookies, and money. What fun Christmas was for me growing up!  How, then, could anybody be mournful on such a joyful day?

Unfortunately, Christmas has become a Memorial Day in some homes. What is supposed to be a joyful day has sadly turned into mourning for their departed loved ones. May the Lord help them this season so they can celebrate Jesus.

For, Christmas is a day of joy – a day to bow to the gift of Immanuel and rejoice. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given” (Is. 9:6).

So, I invite you to celebrate Jesus with me in my native Ghana this year. Maybe I will be a child again and light my Plantain Christmas Tree with lots of biscuits and flowers to decorate. I may even tell you a couple of Ananse stories around the night Campfire, with salted fish to snack on. As we do, we will remember that Jesus the Savior is born. Hallelujah!

Merry Christmas!