The Tribune

By SIMON

Tidings is an archaic or literary term for news. There is always a flood of depressing news such as high crime and violence. This Christmas, there is the news of financial woes for scores of Bahamians struggling to secure food for their families.

There is news within families of medical diagnoses, new births, disappointments, a lost wage or job, positive prospects, and anxiety about the future.

Amidst the admixture of news headlines and personal news, there is the perennial Good News of the Incarnation of God in human history in the person of Jesus Christ.

This news has gone viral in history including in the hearts, spirits and witness of many Bahamians today, who are called by baptism to holiness and be generous and constant bearers of this awesome news.

How might we concretely, lovingly bear these tidings this Christmas? One way is to offer comfort and joy to those seeking a Christmas meal and food and sustenance beyond the Christmas season.

Because of the punishing price of food, thousands of Bahamians are in dire straits. Food and other charities as well as most churches are reporting an ever higher demand for meals and food vouchers. Many parents, especially mothers and grandmothers, are struggling over how they will afford the annual Christmas meal.

Food, especially at holiday times, is about more than nutrition and a belly full, though these are essential. A meal is as importantly an occasion for comfort and joy, for family and fellowship.

Food symbolises family, religious, community and national traditions. Recipes bequeathed from one generation to the next are heirlooms. They are repositories and narratives of resilience, hope and love.

Most religious traditions have rituals and feasts in which food and meals play a central role. They reflect and codify the traditions and theology of faith communities.

In Judaism, the “Passover Seder is a festive meal and ritual that marks the beginning of Passover and tells the story of the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt. The meal is served in a specific order that symbolises the journey from slavery to freedom”. 

In Islam, iftar (Arabic) is a festive meal after sunset during Ramadan, breaking the daylong abstinence or fast from food and drink. Ramadan involves a month of fasting, prayer, reflection and community.

The iftar meal is usually eaten after the Maghrib prayer at sunset. It is a joyous meal and gathering of family and friends.

Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights. There are variations in Sikhism and Jainism. The Festival “symbolises the spiritual victory of Dharma over Adharma, light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance”. Here again, the fellowship of meals and food play a central role in the celebrations.

There are also many secular traditions filled with food and fellowship including the celebration of the Chinese New Year, one of the largest such global events.

We all have iconic and memorable stories of special meals from various life celebrations and commemorations from birthdays to weddings to wakes and funerals. Fellowship after a funeral is part of the healing process as the life of the deceased is remembered and celebrated.

Many people expressly state their wish for family and friends to enjoy food and drink after their death.

A friend recalls a bountiful Thanksgiving meal he prepared some years ago while living in the United States. The 10ft table seated 12.

The cornucopia of diverse dishes ranging from turkey to seafood and other fixings, mirrored the fellowship of black, white, Latino, gay, straight, American, non-American, adults and children at the table.

Many meals are expressions of giving thanks. A fellowship meal can dry tears for a time. It can offer a lonely soul, balm, refuge and understanding. Food is more glorious beyond its taste. It can be especially glorious because of one’s companions. Meals can be a time of reconciliation even as a there may be fierce family or political disagreements.

Good food and communion comes in many forms and binds friends. This writer recently recalls some glasses of tequila and pizza from Dominoes with a friend.

Films like Babette’s Feast and Like Water for Chocolate capture the sumptuousness and sensuality of shared meals of nutritious and delicious food, which is not the preserve of the wealthy.

Many recall “the parable of the long spoons, also known as the allegory of the long spoons or chopsticks, is a story that compares heaven and hell through the lens of dining: In heaven: Diners feed each other across the table and are satisfied. In hell: People are unable to cooperate and starve”.

Many of us who believe we are living heavenly lives in our great comfort, might not realise the hellishness of our self-absorption, selfishness and greed.

For many Christians, the Eucharistic celebration or sacrament commemorating the Last Supper is at the very center of one’s faith and faith community. In John 6:53-56 we are reminded: “For My Flesh is food indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed. He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in me, and I in him.”

In his Eucharistic theology and meditation, Saint Maximilian Kolbe, “who volunteered to die in place of a man named Franciszek Gajowniczek… [at the German death camp] Auschwitz during World War II offered: “The culmination of the Mass is not the consecration, but Communion!” This includes communion with God and communion with one another. How is this Communion expressed in our daily lives? How may we express it this Christmas, especially with the poorest of the poor?”

In the Bible, there are numerous stories involving food including the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. The miraculous nature of such is both ancient and new. Howe do we, today’s bearers of the Good News of the Incarnation, participate in the miracle of Christmas and the multiplication of the loaves and fishes among us?

The finest gifts we may bring to this blessed mission is our own generosity through invitations to meals and fellowship at Christmas, and/or helping others to prepare and to host their own meals.

The grant of a grocery voucher helps to uphold the dignity of the recipient, who can choose the groceries they want for the meals they wish to enjoy and to prepare for their family and friends. It helps to affirm their acts of love in preparing a meal for their loved ones.

Recall the parable of the rich man and Lazarus and the lessons of the story about wealth and poverty.

There is more than enough wealth and food in our country to ensure that everyone has a decent and good Christmas meal. Moreover, there is enough wealth in the hands of gaming houses alone to eradicate hunger and food insecurity in our Bahamas. More than Christmas “handouts” are required.

May the miracle of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ propel us all to offer tidings of comfort and joy at Christmas.

May this miracle also extend to tidings and good news on ending hunger and access to food in The Bahamas, which is an assault on human dignity, an assault on the poor, and an assault on the God who created us in His image and likeness.

The multiplication of the loaves and the fishes is a profound and compelling image of God’s Kingdom, in which we are called to cooperate in communion with our God and with each other.