On Becoming a Man: Wait a Second. Christmas is Upon Us!

“Let your cracked lips give thanks from a joyful heart.” – Gbenga Awomodu

Christmas is here again; sooner than you realize. Time is on steroids and one can hardly keep pace with life’s fast, giant strides. Maybe you just have too many items on your plates that continually keep you on your toes. Maybe, there are too many new gadgets and other developments that only leave you pleading for additional hours every day. Just like yesterday, not a few screamed to welcome the New Year. Today, the new has become stale and we seek the new all over again.

Ring the bells – a dozen bells, and we know that Christmas is here. Cold gale from the Sahara, like the wise men from Far East, has once more brought us gifts of bliss and cracked lips. Harmattan breaks our lips like match sticks, and shards of lip skin weathered raw, and dry, fall like snowflakes in the Plateau. Workers look forward to the holidays, and the school kids too. Gone are days when as children we gave thanks for meat, milk, lollipop, and drops of honey; new clothes, new shoes, fancy bags and the latest toys. While some fetched the hollies with daddy in the posh neighbourhoods, others carried logs of firewood from farmlands in the countryside.

Man, you are now a young man! A young man has learnt to give of his own substance. He has found the strength and responsibility in standing alone, and with others. He has learnt to navigate the paths in the forest and the perilous hills a thousand miles away. He has been weaned from the milk of total dependence on family and friends; he now knows it right and necessary to be the backbone for others too. When the season of labour and gallant fights for substance winds down and calls for a break, he finds his way home and pays homage to the enduring backs that held him while he was yet a toddler and when he was only a sick teenager.

Young man, perhaps you do not believe in the fanfare that is Christmas. Not everyone does, really. Yet, I bet you do believe in love and the necessity of showing love and care to friends and family. This season, do not forget to express sincere love to your friends and loved ones, relatives and people on the streets, and those who least deserve it in your books. Retrieve your black list, and grant amnesty to those who have offended you that much. Let the fathers give hearty thanks for wife and kids and family. Mothers: for husbands and kids, family and jolly friends. Pay homage to the eternal Lord.

At Christmas, what pre-occupies your mind; what does the season mean to you; do you plan to do anything differently this time around? This season, give thanks to the Lord of the harvest for life and health and peace. Show love to the ends of the world. Start where you are, every other day. Show love at Yuletide and beyond. As you crack the turkey bones and dine with family, remember to send some to the less privileged. Yes, they did not work with you to get the money and all, but I’m sure God who has shown you mercies all year long would smile in heaven for such a thoughtful gesture. Let’s clothe those who truly cannot afford a change of cloth for their rags. You may not need to go far to find them and show that little kindness. Let your cracked lips give thanks from a joyful heart. May all your sorrows and dismays be crushed like ice, and your tears become flowing rivers of living joy. This is from me to you in advance. Do have a Merry Christmas!

P.S: This year, I will be spending my first Christmas day away from home in Lagos. I am excited to be joining a group of believers on a Christmas day evangelism outreach to some of the remote parts of Benue state. The initiative is tagged “Touching Lives at Christmas.”

Photo credit: www.portwallpaper.com
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Gbenga Awomodu is an Editorial Assistant at BainStone Ltd./BellaNaija.com. When he is not reading or writing, Gbenga is listening to good music or playing the piano. He believes in the inspirational power of words and pictures, which he explores in helping to make the world a better place. He blogs at Gbenga’s Notebook (www.gbengaawomodu.com).