That second when you think that things won’t change, that things can’t change, for different reasons known only to you. Then the second’s gone and you realise that things can and do change. No two moments are the same, no two seconds are the same. Everything changes, shifts, moves accordingly per what’s happening around it.
On December 22, something changed for me. When I arrived in Uganda I was well aware that there was this change was coming. I just wasn’t sure I was ready for it. It came anyway. Before you begin freaking out that something terrible has happened that I had somehow foreseen, I’d better explain… December 22. It's the date I was born on, 22 years ago, in a hospital in Kampala, Uganda. For many, the progress of time is something they’ve gotten used to. I've just gotten used to blocking it out. However, this just means that every now and then, it'll catch up with me.
I don't intend to make this post a rant or anything like that, but one thing that always gets to me over Christmas is how we're in the process of loosing the real meaning of Christmas. For so many, its about the presents and the decorations. It never fails to annoy me that people are becoming more and more focused on the gifts, the food, the decorations that go up that they fail to see the blatant sign. Christ as an innocent babe... when did we loose this? No one knows when exactly Jesus was born, though in the fourth century people began to celebrate it on December 25. Another thing that a lot of people don't realise is that in the East, before Christianity came to Europe, the pagan celebrations (namely the winter festival), would take place over this period. A lot of our modern 'traditions' come from these festivals. The date itself, too, was chosen to christianise the Roman festival of the 'birthday of the unconquered sun,' which to celebrate the sun god. I'm not judging anyone for deciding what they'll do on Christmas... at home we exchange gifts, though we know who has bought them and given them (Santa's never had a place in our family). May my prayer for this season be that you will find the true meaning in tomorrow's celebrations again.