Christian Living

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We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy is when men are afraid of the light. PLATO

The Christmas text messages, whose originality and exaggeration would put any writer to shame, have replaced the melodious cards that we grew up with. They must however be sometimes received late due to the clogged up airwaves occasioned by the enthusiasm of the peculiar Kenyan consumer

It takes a Christmas gathering of siblings and their off springs to make sense of certain things. Watching the mainly spoilt brats messing up the orderliness of a home that has been scrubbed raw and decorated for effect, but which now catapults into a confused mess of crams, spills, toys, bottles, balloons and litter is the realization that the silence and tranquility that should be sought the days after festivities are a necessity for sanity. However, this is the one time we must all agree to let our hair down and swim in the muddle. Of note will be the nephews and nieces who will repeatedly ask what our names are and these too will serve to remind us what bad relatives we have been for not having acquainted ourselves with them before this festivities or for not having visited their parents through the year.

Certain family members, who are allergic to being ignored, will be at their best in the offensive and defensive arena. Lectures that have been prepared for certain siblings- whose intuition serves them well and keeps them away- will not be delivered, to the consternation of those annually prepared with such agendas. Notable too will be a certain relative’s pouted mouth-on account of a relative she was been trying to call but whose phone will remain stubbornly unanswered. At this relative’s feet will lie a bag she hopes to fill with whatever she can squeeze out of the missing culprit sibling like she has done on many such gatherings. Fate will however be smiling her way as her hosts, in a bid to go easy on leftovers, will fill the offensive bag with edibles and wearables thus eliciting a gummy smile that has hither to been missing.

In most family gatherings, the true meaning of Christmas will escape the attendees. Forgotten too will be the one whose birthday will be celebrated by Christians the world over, Jesus Christ; he whose sole purpose and mission is believed to have been to act as a bridge of reconciliation of man to God after the former fell out with the latter in the Garden of Eden. Through him therefore souls are to be saved from eternal, spiritual and physical death that is the punishment of the fall-out through seeking the truth that is found in his doctrines of love; this too fighting hatred, evil, injustices and inequities.

If it is then that love is the greatest commandment from God, why do the festivities centre on families with little regard for the less fortunate? Why do some members harden their hearts to reconciliations? Why are yearly culinary circuses converted into fighting arenas? The answer lies in man’s innately evil, sinful heart which is perennially in need of a makeover and this can only be from the Almighty God Himself.
(word count-589)

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