"CHRISTMAS CHICKEN" - HO!HO!HO!

December 25^th is a joyful day for many people around the world who celebrate Christmas to mark the birth of Jesus Christ. As a day the savior who died to save them from their sins was said to be born, one would naturally expect that celebrants of this festival would be more merciful on this day not only to other people but also to animals. Yet, the celebration of Christmas ironically is the unofficial declaration of mass slaughter on goats, sheep, cow and especially fowl. For fowl, the commemoration of the birth of the savior of the world is indeed a sorrowful period marked by mass mourning.

Like many children, I looked forward to Christmas with great anticipation. Christmas was the time I would be lucky enough to enjoy my best meat – chicken. I believe that most children of today would find it humorous if not shocking to learn that a few years ago, chicken was enjoyed by most families only during Christmas.   Even though majority of poor and lower middle-income families living in the city enjoyed various kinds of dishes throughout the year, chicken meal was mostly reserved for the end of the year as a special meal plainly because it was costly.

 In fact, the special Christmas food meant more to us than the religious and spiritual significance of the day the Christ was purported to be born. For us, we never ever wanted Christmas to pass once it came. And immediately it sadly passes, we quickly start counting to the next Christmas. When June is wasted entirely to pave way for July, we intensify our countdown and our eager expectation makes Christmas closer in our minds than it is in reality.

I remember vividly how as children we relished and savored the chicken we only enjoyed in Christmas. We ate slowly and never wanted the food to finish. Our chicken would be intact unless all the food is totally consumed. We certainly reserve the best- the chicken- for the last. That is when we slowly chewed away the meat with our bare hands. After the meaty part is gone, the bones were not spared. We made sure we “dealt” and “fought” ferociously with the hard bones until it finally and submissively yielded to the fierce and mean biting skills we have specially developed and honed from the beginning of the year for that much anticipated “chicken day”.

 

The best part of the whole episode was when we partially washed our hands, dashed to our friends’ houses or the playground, and skillfully but briefly covered any of our friends’ nose to enable them smell the lingering aroma of the chicken we have just “crucified”. Initially they would not believe it, thus necessitating a repeat of the experiment. After two or three “smelling exercises” and realizing that it is the aroma of a chicken soup or stew, they could not help but stare and sneer at us with jealousy and envy especially if their families could not afford a chicken that year. 

This was during the 1990s and the years prior to it. Now things have improved. Chicken is no longer eaten by the average family at the end of the year as a special food. But the “injustices” and revelries that characterize almost every Christmas has not changed. Still, the innocent goat, sheep, and fowl are slaughtered unmercifully for sins they have not committed. Amazingly, when we sinned against God, he did not take delight in slaughtering us. He sent his dear and only-begotten son to come and die for our sins so that we can live and continue to enjoy life. Can we likewise respect the precious lives of these animals and generously spare them in the spirit of Christmas and Christ-like forgiveness?

Well, I take this opportunity to appeal to all and sundry who have tied and prepared any animal for eventual slaughtering to reconsider their decision. I know you can.

Excuse me; my hen is trying to escape. Permit me to go and properly re-tie it for Tomorrow’s fufu and chicken soup before it escapes into somebody’s waiting arms. See ya in 2013.