The Christmas business boom is here

Although early Christians never celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ because they considered it to be a pagan celebration, latter day Christians have adopted and included it in their annual religious celebrations.

In fact, the celebrations around Christmas have grown to proportions that the period is considered to be a perfect time for businesses to boom.

For others, Christmas is ideal for spending time with family and exchange gifts. However, this still means spending lot of money on clothes, food, holidays and other goodies; further giving businesses the necessary boost.
The manager of casual wear retail outlet, Mr. Price in Bloemfontein, Bridget Wessels, told The Weekly that her staff is already putting in the long hours for stockpiling.

“This is the busiest time in our store. We are usually busy at the end of each month but the festive season is the busiest time. My workers they need to be prepared to work overtime. They work late on the floor to make way for fresh stock.

“This is a time when our store maximises on sales and makes more money,” said Wessels.

We caught up with Senne Matsepe and his son, Mpho Nibe, who were both out doing Christmas shopping together. To them, this is a good time to bond and buy whatever they desire for the festive season.

“I have always celebrated this time of the year and we cannot ignore it now. Of course, things are not the same as while we were growing up, but we still feel the pressure to buy new clothes for our children. Everything has been so commercialised, as you can see with all the in-store decoration that seek to lure more customers. But we are willing to buy as much as we can,” said Matsepe.

Vuyokazi Soqaka said not only clothing stores are making money during this time of the year. Bottle stores and taverns are also experiencing the boom.

“Christmas is a time when we buy a lot. But for some strange reason young people are the ones who buy more than adults. They tend to buy alcohol while we run to loan sharks to augment our budget.
“This is sad as it does not reflect the spirit of giving and spending wholesome time with our family because the consequences are not pleasing,” shared Soqaka.

Meanwhile, Christmas continues to evoke mixed feelings among the ordinary folk in Mangaung.

Some dismiss it as white people’s way of making a quick buck while the others would give anything for the special moments they spend in loved ones’ company.

Prophetess Audrey Makhetha said she still celebrates Christmas as she believes that is a time for giving and sharing with the less fortunate who cannot afford to buy themselves or their children gifts.
She started a campaign in the previous year in the controversial Dinaweng informal settlement at the outskirts of Bloemfontein, where she invites friends and families to compassionately give out whatever they can afford as a donation to that community; so that they too feel loved during this season.

According to Makhetha, this year she will be celebrating Christmas with about 150 needy kids from the informal settlement, and she will be donating toys, food and clothes to those families just to show love and appreciation for the birth of Jesus Christ.

A local resident, Yolisa Bali, said Christmas has grown to lose its true meaning over the years.

She reckons, back in the days, Christmas was not about money and extravagantly expensive gifts, unlike today when money is a key ingredient in the recipe of happiness.
“In the good old days, children would eat and enjoy food that was not prepared in their own homes as they went from house to house to get fed. Life was pretty simple then when kids enjoyed the spirit of Christmas regardless of their family backgrounds; it’s no longer the same these days.”

Another Bloemfontein dweller, Julius Morobele said he does not celebrate Christmas because he thinks it is just a White scam to make quick money. He argues Christmas Day is just like any other that is celebrated in the country; the only difference is that it makes the poor even poorer and the rich richer.

“Let’s look at it this way: who spends the most on Christmas Day? Isn’t it the poor people who will be struggling again in January when their kids have to go back to school? he asked.

“I have nothing against the day, but I feel the less fortunate people are under more pressure to make the day different any way they can by buying new clothes for their children, new toys, preparing special meals. Sometimes they go to the extent of borrowing money from loan sharks just to keep up with what society dictates,” added Morobele.

History of Christmas customs:
Celebrating Jesus’ birthday: “The early Christians did not celebrate Christ’s birth because they considered the celebration of anyone’s birth to be a pagan custom.”

December 25: There is no proof that Jesus was born on that date. Church leaders likely chose this date to coincide with pagan festivals held on or around the winter solstice.

Gift-giving, feasting, partying: The Encyclopaedia Americana says: “Saturnalia, a Roman feast celebrated in mid-December, provided the model for many of the merry-making customs of Christmas. From this celebration, for example, were derived the elaborate feasting, the giving of gifts, and the burning of candles.”

The Encyclopaedia Britannica notes that “all work and business were suspended” during Saturnalia.

Christmas lights: According to The Encyclopaedia of Religion, Europeans decorated their homes “with lights and evergreens of all kinds” to celebrate the winter solstice and to combat evil spirits.
Mistletoe, holly: “The Druids ascribed magical properties to the mistletoe in particular. The evergreen holly was worshiped as a promise of the sun’s return.”

Christmas tree: “Tree worship, common among the pagan Europeans, survived after their conversion to Christianity.” One of the ways in which tree worship survived is in the custom of “placing a Yule tree at an entrance or inside the house in the midwinter holidays.”

- Additional information from: www.jw.org