Greetings,
I hope that everyone spent a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family. As Thanksgiving is now in the rear view mirror and Christmas is just around corner, I’ve been reflecting. It has always been a mystery to me why the best pies and juiciest meats only make an appearance on the holidays. When was the last time you roasted a turkey simply because you were in a turkey mood. Seriously, isn’t any day a good day for strawberry cheesecake or pumpkin pie? And why do those creative casseroles only make an appearance when the fall candles are sitting on the table or the Christmas tree is standing in the living room? In Niger, the expatriate community is so diverse that Thanksgiving can easily be swept under the calendar. Most people in Niger, both African and otherwise, do not celebrate Thanksgiving. The Canadians have their Thanksgiving in October. Dual citizenship with Canada would mean two Thanksgivings; there’s a thought. Like it or not, Thanksgiving has become a festival of food. Gathering with friends, we give thanks for what we have… and then we eat it. We eat a big meal and then spend the day with the people we love, or at least like.
During the Thanksgiving holiday, it is difficult not to think of those who are hungry. Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world. Multiple distinct language-groups dwell in close proximity and endeavor to coexist. It is situated in the Sahara Desert, and drought is a common problem. Though the past few rainy seasons have been solid, it seems that someone is always in need of proper food. Nevertheless, feasting on special days is not foreign to the people of Niger. I’ve spoken previously of Tabasky, a Muslim holiday during which people of wealth roast rams in their yards and invite as many friends and family that they think they can feed and walk-ins are always welcome. Also, large meals are not limited to one day each year. Such meals are an important aspect of marriages, baby naming ceremonies, funerals, etc. Most family compounds are constructed using mud brick and contain few rooms. Therefore, the food is prepared and consumed outdoors under trees or canopies. Such openness allows for easy mingling among guests, and children are able to roam freely. So, even in a culture chained to poverty, the people of Niger have long discovered the merits of communal eating.
The deficiencies of the human condition can be seen in blazing colors in Niger. The oppressive heat and meager economy extend an open invitation to suffering. People spend their energy on daily living, and leave everything else to fate. A common saying here is, “If God wills it.” Perhaps this is why the people of Niger are generally calm and content. Death seems to be always at the door. People typically do not become irate about politics or religion. When extreme factions of Islam were entering Niger, the general response among the local population was that they weren’t welcome. The only exception to this trait of calmness is when a Nigerien gets behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. Then, all thought and patience flies out the window, but I suppose that is a different discussion. Anyway, in America, we often characterize people living in poverty as desperate and unhappy. We think of them as constantly looking for a way to improve upon their station in life. We can’t imagine how a sixty-year-old farmer, living in the same village in which he was born and using the same agricultural techniques of his ancient ancestors, could possibly be happy. It is impossible for us to comprehend how a woman who is her husband’s third wife, has had four miscarriages, seen two infants die of malaria, and is responsible for her two children as well as the six children of her husband’s other wives, could be even relatively content. People in the village live lives in a manner that is hundreds of years old. The angles of existence become clean and unforgiving; rain means life, and drought means death. Yet, it is here at the rocky shore of the abyss where humans accept what it means to be human. It is here where we must evaluate our priorities, choosing what is best and discarding what is hollow while being thankful for the wisdom to know the difference. One of the most seemingly serene people I’ve ever met was an old man with a large family living in the village and eking out daily survival with his millet crop. While there are certainly people in Niger who yearn to leave their country and find a more affluent life, the vast majority of Nigeriens enjoy being Nigerien.
An unspoken idea among Americans is that thankfulness is a license to have what we want and have more of it. We can have lots of stuff as long as we are thankful. That concept seems unhealthy. The Bible never tells me that I can have whatever I want as long as I am thankful. In fact, the New Testament tells me to be ready for persecution and trouble. If I lost every material trapping, would God still be God? Is my thankfulness correctly focused? I sat in a circle during our Thanksgiving festivities when a little girl was told to say something for which she was thankful. She said, “I am thankful that Jesus died on the cross.” Indeed. If I am thankful for Jesus, I should be making every effort to invest Jesus in the lives of individuals.
Families often engage in a specific act of charity during the holidays. They visit a soup kitchen or donate clothes to the Salvation Army. Acts of kindness should become more normative. There must be ways that we can routinely demonstrate the love of Christ in specific ways.
Blessings,
Jeremy
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