WHILE the Christmas Day is fairly simpler to understand due to its direct religious linkage to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Boxing Day, which was celebrated yesterday (26th December, 2018), is more complex and needs some explaining. It is the natural culmination of the Christmas celebrations.

The misunderstanding is not helped by the fact that some Commonwealth countries such as Ghana, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania and even Nigeria in the years past, staged pugilistic boxing tournaments on 26th December. The Boxing Day is rooted in British traditions. In Ireland, 26th December is also called St. Stephen’s Day.

The Boxing Day is part of the “white man’s” legacies which our country, as a creation of the British colonial powers, inherited. We mark it as a consequential accompaniment of Christmas. In real terms, the “boxing” involved has little to do with fistic fights. It is actually the extension of the merriments and love mood of the Christmas Day, whereby boxes of gifts received or collected during the Christmas Day are opened and its contents shared, usually with the needy and less-privileged folks.

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In many parts of the world, a lot of shopping still takes place on this day alongside with the distribution of gifts. But in Nigeria, very little commerce takes place on the Boxing Day beyond. Rather, in the urban areas, people flock to the eateries and fun spots to continue the merriment from where they left it on Christmas Day. In the countryside where there is a large volume of home-comers, social activities are at their peaks, with great emphasis on communal development.

As we open our love boxes yesterday, we must remember those who have no boxes to open; those who are highly expectant from us. All the materialism that goes with the Yuletide and Christmas will diminish in worth into mere vanity if all we do is to give to those who have little need for the gifts. We make our society more inclusive and stable by extending our hands of love and a sense of belonging to those who have no one to care for them.

Our children will benefit spiritually and psychologically by accompanying us to the orphanages to present gifts to their peers who have no parents or guardians. They will have more reason to be grateful and empathetic.

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Love is an investment which bears bountiful fruits. Let us cultivate the habit of sowing this noble seed. Ignoring the less-privileged is an investment in violent and heartless crimes, including even terrorism. If you don’t part with your surplus voluntarily, you may be forced to give it up (perhaps along with your life) violently.

Open and share your love box!