Orville Taylor | Christmas musings 2025

No chimney at my house. No reindeer, despite their resemblance to the Ras’ goats. The man carrying a long bag is a well known smoker of hard drugs and his peers always point him out whenever he is active.

On my roof, there is no space for Santa Claus. A Christmas tree in the living room, for the little ones.

No Nativity scene, portraying images of Christmas, irrelevant to reality or our culture. True, Jesus was born in a manger, but nothing speaks to three wise men, just three gifts and no biblical evidence that the wise men were right there while he was a newborn.

Jesus was not born in winter on December 25. Certainly Christmas has nothing to do with a portly geriatric, with the awesome power of being almost as omnipresent and omniscient as God, being everywhere at the same time, monitoring conduct of every child. Actually, the name Santa does bother me a bit, because the same five letters form the name of the great adversary, Satan, who also keeps tabs on us all.

Still, many of the Jamaican traditions remain very exciting to me. Sorrel and Christmas cake are staples. Despite burning fire on ‘Trenton’, glazed ham leaves a pleasant aroma in the house during the season.

Older stuff like pepper lights and white lime stay in my head. Carols, like Silent Night still sit nicely with me. No disrespect to the government, but Jingle Bells did nothing for me, especially since I could not figure out what was a one horse ‘sopensleigh’.

Tired of dashing through snow or those songs with Euro-American winter reference, Mariah Carey’s All I want for Christmas is You, is pleasant listening. Luther Vandross’ Merry Christmas still strikes a pleasant note. However, nothing surpasses Christmas Ja by our dearly departed Neville Willoughby, icon of RJR.

Outside of the religious significance of the day, and season, there is something that is eternally special about it though.

Even if one is an atheist or agnostic, being able to gather as a family is one of the most wonderful things. Despite this, the tradition of giving gifts underlined by a principle of giving more than one receives, can become perverted, because often there is disproportion between what one puts out and one gets back.

For a brief moment, families and even communities get close, share meals, have drinks, occupy small spaces together and truly affirm what it means to be human.

Perhaps, more than any other time in our modern history, the Christmas tradition has to be at the centre of everything that we do going forward. Whether Christian or not; just a simple act or thinking outside of one’s own needs and looking out for that person next to you, or several parishes away, is a norm that should be returned to.

GIVING AND SHARING

In a country, where large numbers of our citizens are now homeless or reduced to infra human conditions of living, the spirit of giving and sharing should not even be based on any kind of notion of karma. After all, Even the concept of karma itself revolves around a sort of selfish notion of fulfilling one’s own needs. Doing something, knowing fully well that there is a correlation between what one does and the rewards and consequences that follow; is really nothing but glorified self-interest.

In fact, one can easily argue that if one exhibits the Christian value of abnegation, caring for others, as a means to avoid hellfire or to be ultimately rewarded with some space on the right hand of Jesus, whose birthday we are supposed to be celebrating, is at the end of the day, still a selfish act, because it was done for self preservation and not simply because deep in one’s heart one truly believes that looking out for others, helping the week, housing the homeless, feeding the hungry are simply acts that are inherent rewards in themselves.

That this is a Christmas of maintaining traditions and self-denial, cannot be over emphasised. Having gone through Hurricane Melissa a Category 5 tropical cyclone, family members in Westmoreland, St Elizabeth, Trelawny, St James and Hanover are still picking up the pieces. With electricity still to be restored in parts of those parishes Christmas, will be dark for those.

With persons still unaccounted for, the total fatalities directly connected to the hurricane is still unknown. Moreover, the number of deaths attributed to the hurricane itself, but spiked due to exacerbated conditions, might be completely missed.

We still have another 10 days before the year ends. But, the year has not been all doom and gloom. Apart from the scoundrels stealing aid, or those scamming or skimming, one of the positives has been an overall improvement in the major crime statistics. If we ever wanted a Christmas present that should be one. Hurricane Melissa brought out the best in our frontline workers.

Healthcare employees at the hospitals in Black River and Savanna-la-Mar, all deserve national honours. The fire brigade, parish council and National Works Agency’s workers went beyond the call of duty to return us to normality.

Knock the Jamaica Public Service Company if you wish, but until one understands the magnitude of the destruction, as well as the task ahead, it would be not just hypocritical but cruel to make light of their efforts, especially since some of the employees themselves while being partially homeless, were out there restoring light.

Merry Christmas Jamaica and if God gives me one more, I will be sharing my 47th continuous Christmas drink with someone beside whom I became a man.

Orville Taylor is senior lecturer at Department of Sociology at The University of the West Indies, a radio talk-show host, and author of ‘Broken Promises, Hearts and Pockets’. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com