This Christmas season, the staff at OrilliaMatters wish you the joy of the season. Throughout the day, our staff will give you a glimpse into what Christmas means to them. We hope you enjoy!
Life is full of firsts. This year was a first for me decorating a Christmas tree.
I’d never done it before, because I never celebrated Christmas.
Not because of some bourgeois attitude toward celebrations and traditions and cultural customs, because I grew up in a Christian minority country, where this religious holiday overlaps with another national holiday: the birthday of the founder of the nation, Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
Despite this overlap, Christmas was and is celebrated by Christians all over Pakistan. Lahore, where I spent most of my adulthood, is the second-largest city in the country. We have a number of Christians, identifying not just with the low-income class but also with those who have influence in politics and business.
Kinnaird College for Women, where I studied for four years, was at one point run by missionaries and retains a strong Christian influence, even to this day.
I remember the sounds of Christmas carols ringing in the corridors of the redbrick building. I can’t recall if Christian students decorated a tree or not, but that was definitely done in churches around the city.
Special services were held on Christmas Day, people had parties at their homes, and the parks would be filled with Christian families celebrating the day at a fair. Oh, and Santa definitely dropped by, too. Makes sense, it’s warmer and there’s lots to do.
It would be easy for me to blame my lack of Christmassy-ness on the fact that Dec. 25 is also a holiday marking Jinnah’s birthday, but I’m ashamed to admit it’s because I never took an active interest in joining in with those around me who were celebrating.
It’s the same attitude I see around here. People are hesitant in taking an interest in and learning more about or asking to join in with Eid celebrations. It’s a dilemma for all minorities living anywhere.
Having been in Canada for seven years now, I can no longer use Jinnah’s birthday as an excuse to not partake in Christmas celebrations.
Partly out of curiosity and partly out of a need to assimilate in my surroundings, I’ve dived deeply into it.
Colleagues at The Packet & Times would set up a Christmas tree at the office and we had a Christmas potluck at work. That was the first time I was introduced to the concept of “secret Santa”.
I mean, I always thought Santa was a well-kept secret, but there was a deeper secret to it. Names were drawn and people were assigned the task to figure out what someone they didn’t really know would want as a gift.
Then the mystery gifts were exchanged. More gifts were traded through a game, which allowed people to snag gifts from others. I ended up getting a bunch of useless books from my then-boss, Nathan Taylor.
That was just an introduction to how Christmas could be celebrated.
This year, it’s gone to another level. I’ve spent the first two weeks of this month attending various Christmas parties. There’s been dancing, there’s been gift giving and I attended events where kids got to meet Mr. and Mrs. Claus.
I’ve volunteered for hours with Dress for Success wrapping gifts at the Orillia Square mall. I’m quite proud of how my skills have been honed by this experience.
And I’ve been wished a Merry Christmas by everyone I run into on the main street. To put the Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays debate that may be bubbling in some minds, as a minority, I don’t mind being wished a Merry Christmas. I also don’t mind wishing others in return.
Now that we’re over that, all this got me thinking about why people celebrate Christmas with such fervor.
To some extent, it’s been commercialized, much like many other celebrations, such as Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and St. Patrick’s Day. A trip to Dollarama will tell you that.
As much as it has been commercialized, there’s another aspect to it: community. I’ve covered dinner events on Thanksgiving and Christmas and the one reason I hear resoundingly in interviewing people is just this: It’s a time for everyone to get together and sit around the table as one.
Seniors flock to churches to be able to spend time with others. People use their holidays to visit kith and kin in other cities. It’s a time when strangers become friends and guests become family.
That’s a sentiment I can surely identify with. We do that at least twice a year, too. Once after Ramadan and again after the Hajj is done.
We get together, we eat, we laugh, we enjoy and for at least one night, we all love each other.
It’s the answer to the most basic human needs: love and belonging.
It’s also about giving back to the community. This season makes people feel generous and giving and benevolent. Non-profits are able to replenish their drying coffers to be able to continue their work in the city.
It’s a win for everyone. It’s simple.
Now all we have to do is remember the lessons from this season for the rest of the year to let peace and unity reign.
Mehreen Shahid is a freelance reporter for OrilliaMatters who works, predominantly, on weekends.
