- A carol is a song, particularly of christian folk origin associated with Christmas. Like all prehistoric tales, the birthday of the Messiah has its history and traditions. It’s a story replete with heavenly beings, angels, saints and common people, performing supernatural roles in fulfillment of a prophecy. The story of Christmas is a fusion of the spiritual and the natural, the local and the universal as well as the pagan and the Christian elements of human existence.
- Charles Dickens wrote a short novel, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, in 1843 in which he presented his main character, Ebenezer Scrooge encountering ghosts and spirits of beings that were not necessarily of Christian background on Christmas day. The import of the novel was clear: Christmas was not essentially a Christian ceremony. The story of Scrooge the mean and miserly banker being visited by spirits on the Christmas eve and forced to transform to a better citizen has more secular implication than the strict spiritual meaning it traditionally conveys. The idea of Christmas itself is an afterthought initiated by a certain Roman Emperor, Constantine, occasioned by some secular exigencies in the year 336 AD.
- By this novel, Dickens has deftly expanded the narrow definition of the Christmas Carol beyond the mournful caroling of monotonous tunes of “Joy to the world” and “Oh come, all ye faithful” and other sundry tunes. The Christmas Carol is now about big creative endeavors that forster peace, unity and tranquility in our world that is increasingly torn apart by civilization.
- The tradition of the Christmas Carol as we use to know has died. The hip-hop has replaced it. Those solemn moments of meditation and emulation of the veiled daughters of Jerusalem have faded out for the emergence of those of a more psychedelic fashion-crazed ladies displaying the latest dance steps on the pulpit. The Wisemen from the East have ceased to visit saviour in the manger with gifts. In their place, the money men from the West and America now commodify the saviour himself.
- One thing is clear, though, that the Christian culture is not in the least stagnant. Most societies in the world have adopted the Christmas as their official national or cultural traditional festival. The Tiv society does too, since they do not even have recognized traditional festivals beyond Christmas and new year days. Their Christmas Carol is naturally bond to be as varied as their imagination can lead them. The most major one has been the Kegh Sha Shwa (KSS) annual festival set up by the most indefatigable Rev Father Mfa Mdooyongo some six or so years ago.
- Even this KSS Christmas Carol has had to take another trajectory this 2020 year of the plague, possibly to demonstrate that there are no universally fixed approaches to doing everything. The virtual KSS Christmas Carol of this year will also have its story quite distinct from Charles Dickens’ spiritualist vision of the 19th century.
- Happy Christmas to you all
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