Christmas: Season of peace
If all the 12 months in the year, none generates as much delight as December does. Despite the approaching harmattan with its dusty atmosphere and uncomfortably dry and hazy ambiance that affects our moods, we still enjoy December as a refreshing month in the year.
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And we know why, don’t we? It is the season of peace on account of the Yuletide; that is why. “Yuletide” is an archaic term for Christmas, and we are using it to convey an old-fashioned flavour of the season.
Exciting Yuletide
December brings the year to a close and prepares us for a brand new one, but that is not responsible for the excitement in the air this time of the year.
It is the Yuletide with its great stories, unique songs, exciting events, family reunions, and joy to the world.
Whichever way you look at it, this season adds freshness to our consciousness and anticipation. Even people who don’t care about the Yuletide experience a feeling that is different from how they feel the rest of the seasons.
War, bloodshed
Yet, from the onset when the hero of the Yuletide was born, the season has been greeted with war and bloodshed.
Bethlehem in Judea in the land of Israel is where he was born, bringing peace to the world. But as I write this, the birthplace of the Prince of Peace is steeped in a bloody war whose head and tail one cannot comprehend.
The distance between Bethlehem and Gaza where people are perishing as a result of military bombardment is a mere 74 kilometres. Because the Prince of Peace was born in Bethlehem, that small city has been a tourist destination for over two centuries. Yet, despite being the birthplace of the Prince of Peace, that Middle-Eastern enclave is constantly engulfed in warfare.
Consequently, — one of the beautiful songs of the Yuletide—is becoming “War to the world” by way of fatal conflicts in parts of the globe.
War is senseless
As for the Russian-Ukraine war, how can we say “the least said about it the better” when the result of that “senseless” warfare is devastating two countries and impoverishing the rest of the world.
Referring to that war as “senseless” seems to suggest that there is a “sensible” war, but there is none. Whether it takes place in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, or Russia and Ukraine, or Alavenyor and Nkonya, or the Mamprusi and the Kusasi in Bawku, there is never a sensible war.
The other day we saw a massive placard-wielding demonstration in Accra against the perpetrators of the Israeli-Gaza war. We need more of those demonstrations. But since the distance between Ghana and Gaza is so far, maybe the next demonstration should be staged against the pockets of conflicts happening at our own backyard.
And that should include the petty and major conflicts happening in the family among siblings and parents, in the church among the clergy and among the members, and among co-workers and neighbours.
Prince of peace
It is the season of peace, and this peace is available to all who stretch their hearts to receive it from whom it resides—from the Prince of Peace.
It is said that “nature abhors vacuum”, therefore people always want to fill any idle space with some activity, irrespective of what they fill it with. Similarly, human beings seem to abhor peace, which is why conflict or full-scale war often occurs at peace time. But we must give peace a chance to flourish wherever we live.
The Prince of Peace and hero of the Yuletide was born in peace time; yet wicked King Herod, afraid of that one special child, unleashed his wrath upon peace-loving families.
Fearing that this child would seize his kingship, he perpetrated the killing of all the boys in Bethlehem who were two years old and under. It is the height of wickedness and insensitivity to turn peace into war.
Reconciliation
The greatest warfare of all time used to exist between God and humanity. Immediately sin started the war, a wall of hostility wedged itself between us and God.
But through the Baby born in Bethlehem near Gaza, God reconciled the world to himself, breaking down the wall of hostility. Reconciled and at peace with the Almighty, we can also become agents of peace.
This permanent “ceasefire” between God and humanity leads to peace. But while this peace is universally available for everybody, it is accessed personally and individually.
The world manufactures war, which we experience physically, but the Prince of Peace gives peace, which we experience spiritually.
This season of peace, despite the war raging between Israel and Gaza, Russia and Ukraine, or at our backyards in Bawku and elsewhere, give peace a chance in your life, home, workplace, and neighbourhood.
The writer is a publisher, author, writer-trainer and CEO of Step Publishers.
E-mail: [email protected]