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During tough economic times like the phase that the country is in, it is quite easy to be selfish without even realising it, to take care of your interests only and overlook the plight of others less fortunate than you are.
Everybody is having to contend with one form of austerity or another since what your money could buy you four months ago, it can no longer buy the same. It is important that we endeavour by all means to spread some Christmas cheer from the little that we have. A story is told of a man that thought that he was worse off and lamented his predicament of having to scavenge in refuse bins for food until he met a vagabond from a village where there were no bins to pick food from.
Christmas is a time of giving. It may not even be material things but giving of our time so that we put a smile on someone’s face. The extended family system has to a large extent broken down though now more than ever before we need those values that kept the extended family together and protected our children that are today at the mercy of negative influences of the Internet and many other technologies that have imported foreign values right into our homes. Christmas time could be that time when families re-connect and stay in contact so that we can truly be one another’s keeper. The tendency to segregate according to economic class has not helped matters as the ones that have nothing find themselves without any visitors at this time of the year. Let us think of those in prisons, hospitals, children’s homes and even old people’s homes.
We are sometimes so consumed by our own worries that we forget that there is a generation that bequeathed us the present day Zimbabwe, having worked hard to bring it to current levels. We need to pay tribute to these gallant sons and daughters by at least acknowledging their contribution and existence by paying them frequent visits and not shunning them due to their situation, be it their age, their brush with the law, rejection or their lack. Being surrounded by those one is close to at this time of the year makes life worth living and will certainly bring cheer. Where our budgets may fail us, our smiles will definitely build bridges to long lasting relationships. Lest we forget the concept of ubuntu enjoins us to care for one another and reminds us that we are the sum total of our relationships that we have a chance to deepen at a time like this.
derick.khumalo