*DISCLAIMER* This post is not meant to offend anyone who is non-Christian. If you ARE offended, let's just agree to disagree, and then go eat some seafood salad, followed by rosemary chicken with herb roasted potatoes, and finish it off with Rubis (chocolate) wine and a slice of almond vanilla cake topped with melted chocolate ice cream, crushed peanuts, and coconut candy.
The other day at work, I was walking along the hallway, saw a coworker. I was about to say hi when he greeted out, "COMPLIMENTS!!!" I literally screeched to a halt and had a very confused look on my face. I asked, "Compliments? As in, how? I don't understand."
He replied, "Compliments of the Season." And then it dawned on me that he was wishing me holiday cheer (lol, silly me). But the thing about it was, I was genuinely confused by his greeting. Coming from the States, where everyone tries to be politically correct, the non-religious, non-cultural greeting around this period is, "Happy Holidays." So I guess the Nigerian counterpart would be "Compliments [of the season]" right?
Well, after that exchange with my coworker, we went on to talk about holiday greetings in December. In the States, you have people celebrating Hanukkah, you have some others celebrating Kwanzaa, and then you have those celebrating Christmas (Christians focusing on the birth of Jesus Christ, and others focusing on Santa Claus).
In the past, I've always said 'Merry Christmas' without really attaching any meaning to it. The truth of the matter is that it's become so commercialized, that more and more Christians are even forgetting that we celebrate Christmas because of Jesus Christ. This year though, I'm choosing to say it more intentionally. Fine, not everyone is a Christian. But if you're allowed to practice your religious beliefs freely, then why shouldn't I too? So with that, I say to you and yours...
MERRY CHRISTMAS
I celebrate my saviour.......so Merry christmas Berry :)......hope you will visit calabar soon?
ReplyDeleteThanks lady. Mehn, Calabar doesn't look like it's on the horizon at all. Mr Somebody is waaaaaaay too busy with baking and decorating.
DeleteI agree... Merry Christmas to you and yours Berry!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Enigma. Merry Christmas to you too
DeleteLol. Merry Christmas.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas!
DeleteHappy holidays, Berry!
ReplyDeleteSorry...
Merry Xmas, :P
Hahaha - Happy Keresimesi.
DeleteMerry Christmas Berry! Thanks for adding colour to my year with your fun blog & also to Cakes for the delicious cupcakes I ordered sometime back. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteAwww, thank you and you're welcome from me and Cakes!
DeleteMerry Christmas to Berry and Cakes!
ReplyDeleteThanks Nikky!
DeleteMerry Christmas to you too Berry.
ReplyDeleteI just went to pull out Nathaniel Bassey's Facebook post on this - "From houston to London, you see the world already buzzing with Christmas. They deck the halls, play the carols. They seem to love CHRISTMAS, but hate the CHRIST in the equation. Just thinking.."
It's the truth.
But for us who know what Christmas really is, we should celebrate with the mind set that it's all about Jesus..Always :-)
Amen Frances!
DeleteDiscovering your blog was one of the best things that happened to me this year. Merry Christmas Berry and Cakes too.
ReplyDeleteAwww, that's soooooo sweet! In fact, that's my Christmas present and I thank you very very much.
DeleteVery Merry Xmas, Berry (and Cakes!).
ReplyDeleteThanks for a fun 2014, here's to more of the same in 2015.
Lots of love from Brussels.
XXX
Brussels!!! Thanks Clara! Have a wonderful Christmas :)
DeleteMerry Christmas Berry.
ReplyDeleteI grew up not particularly celebrating Christmas because of the Church I was attending but I see it as an opportunity to celebrate Christ. We just got a mail at the office which riled my colleagues, saying 'Happy Holidays". When Muslims and other religions have holidays we recognise it, I wonder why there seems to be a shift against saying Merry Christmas. Most annoying sef is people that say Merry Xmas. Seriously, what does that mean?
Lol, Xmas has to be one of the most annoying things, especially when it's being said... saying Xmas out loud isn't shorter than saying Christmas, so why not just say Christmas?!
DeleteHappy Holidays. Lol. I am currently in london and still a bit surprised by all the merry Christmas business.
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays is just inclusive if you know what i mean.
www.pynk360.com
Haha, I get it for inclusivity (I know it's not a word, but you get it).
DeleteHave a wonderful celebration!
I get what you mean. We should be all be free to practice our religion. I say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays because it is actually a holiday.
ReplyDeleteThe one that makes me cringe though is Merry XMAS. What is the X for? Lol
www.tomilolaescada.com
Hehe, X is an inverted cross maybe?
DeleteMerry christmas!!!
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
DeleteMerry Christmas Mr&Mrs Cakes
ReplyDelete