2016 is not just another year. It is 2016. A year filled with several ‘episodes of the tales of the unexpected’ and punctuated by several comedic events.  Who would have imagined at the beginning of 2016 that the United Kingdom would vote for a ‘Brexit’ and set the stage for the disintegration of the Eurozone? How many people imagined the possibility of a President-elect Donald Trump or even the rise of right wing political parties in Europe? To a lesser extent, the not so surprising demise of Fidel Castro, Yahyah Jahmeh’s comedy in Gambia, Budget padding in Nigeria, the transition of a revered king and installation of a new Oba in the Kingdom of Benin, the tragedy of Aleppo in Syria, Assassination of Russian Ambassador to Turkey, allegation of Russian interference in US elections and so many other events ensured that 2016 would have a worthy historical record.

In Nigeria, 2016 will be remembered for the economic recession and rise of the MMM Ponzi scheme. However, like a raging wave coming to shore, 2016 is gradually coming to an end. Whatever tidings the outgoing year might have brought us, we are all grateful to God that we are alive to celebrate its end and yearning to welcome the New Year.

 As we prepare for the annual ritual of New Year resolutions and the pilgrimage to Churches on 31^st December, I implore all of you to share love this season. It is a season to remember our less fortunate neighbors, friends and acquaintances. Remember that neighbor who is unable to feed his large family, your security guard whose twelve years old son dropped out of school due to inability to pay school fees, or even your cousin who is unable to complete his studies because he cannot pay the tuition. Think of that neighbor who greets you every Sunday in Church, or even the one whose name you do not know but whose shanty dwelling was recently demolished by the Government to pave way for exotic houses for the privileged like you.  Unlike the past when most of us on the right side of the economic divide use seasons as this as occasions to visit charity homes to donate ‘our’ widows’ mite to the less fortunate, we would not necessarily need to take that long drive this year because charity cases now abound just outside our doorsteps due to the lingering economic challenges

So brothers and sisters, as you shop for new clothes, exotic or not so exotic drinks, guinea fowls and Christmas Turkey, please pause as you step out of your homes and offices to ‘drop or set free’ some grains of rice and probably some loose Naira notes, for the benefit of the ‘charities’ in your neighborhood. Please note that in this season of ‘economic uncertainties’, every cup of grains count and no amount would be considered too small.

One more thing!  Since it is the season of gift giving, I will like to share with you a beautiful poem from my newly found love, Khalil Gibran’s 1923 masterpiece ‘The Prophet’.

Giving

You give but little when you give of your possessions.

It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?

And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the over prudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?

And what is fear of need but need itself?

Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, the thirst that is unquenchable?

 

There are those who give little of the much which they have–and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.

And there are those who have little and give it all.

These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.

And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.

And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;

They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.

Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.

 

It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding;

And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving.

And is there aught you would withhold?

All you have shall some day be given;

Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors’.

 

You often say, “I would give, but only to the deserving.”

The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.

They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.

Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights, is worthy of all else from you.

And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.

And what desert greater shall there be, than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving?

And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?

See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.

For in truth it is life that gives unto life while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.

 

And you receivers… and you are all receivers… assume no weight of gratitude, lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives.

Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings;

For to be over mindful of your debt, is to doubt his generosity who has the freehearted earth for mother, and God for father.

 

Khalil Gibran, The Prophet, 1923.

Merry Christmas!