Arkotong Longkumer
Christmas means so many things to us. It symbolises the birth of a saviour, the promise of new life. It is also an occasion for us to find solace and comfort with our family, and share a common humanity with the world. I remember my own Christmases growing up as a child in Kohima and Dimapur; the excitement of sleeping on Christmas Eve, the glee on our faces as we unwrapped presents the next morning; the bourne fire that lit up the night, sending fiery signals to the cold midnight sky. Suddenly, a warm purr would fill us as we sang songs and ate over-sweetened raisin cakes with Plaza or Breeze icing. It seemed that our innocence would burn eternally.
During our adolescence, the shield of parental security eventually peeled off, as we learnt about the harsh reality of the world. Suddenly, Christmas was only a lull from the incessant violence that would eventually gather storm after all the compliments were distributed. Fiery sermons, feel-good columns about the sharing of common ‘brotherhood’ and ‘sisterhood’ would pillage the newspaper pages like soldiers lined up before the priest as he blesses them to fight with honour and God, promising eternal life to those who die for God and country. I often questioned with intense sadness: when, God, when?
Many Christmases have come and gone; I have changed and so has the world. These days we are all so unsure of what the world will become. The high-speed demand for everything to be smaller, faster, and cheaper has heralded a new breed of consumerism. The global markets have infected many with the need for more goods, fuelled by the brazen imposition on cheap labour, with the poorest of the poor feeling the brunt of this global entourage. AIDS/HIV has dominated world economic and social debate; the need to bridge the gap between rich and poorer countries and the need for Fair Trade; the Global War on Terror, Tsunamis, Earthquakes, Hurricanes—all have shook the world with a resounding boom! We fear what the world will be like next year. But every year, as if these calamities never happened, we gather around our table and gloss over the profound events of the world, with the utmost urgency in finding the best meat and preparing for the yearly ritual. Every year we say the same prayer, gather with the same people and pray to the same God. The newspaper columns will be filled with the same words of the conditioned security we are supposed to feel after we have had our Christmas lunch. After that, all hell’s gonna break loose, yet again!
This year I thought maybe it would be good to make a wish. Not one that is entangled with personal gain, nor something that would glamorise a utilitarian goal. But one that is simple, honest. One that I know everyone wants. So I speak for ‘us’. Peace. Lets embrace the cliché and get on with it. We all know that armed struggle in any sense is against the message of Christmas and the life of Jesus Christ. To find justice, we must find purpose in a unifying voice. That today is the not about us, but about a man who wanted to share his message of love and peace, so that we may do the same with others.
