IF THE WORLD DID NOT END YESTERDAY and you are reading this today, three days before Christmas, you have to thank your lucky stars, one in particular that has attracted and guided the holy and the wise since BC became AD.
When Dr Watson asked his friend Sherlock Holmes what school he attended, Sherlock replied: “Elementary, my dear Watson.”
Like almost every other West Indian child, I went to an elementary school too but in my case, because my first headmaster was transferred and my parents thought that I should follow him, and then we moved to the country, I went to four different ones. They were Anglican or English Catholic (E.C.) schools, and so my education was based on the story and teachings of Christ.
In those days, the language of The Bible and Scriptures was that of the King James Version. None of the subsequent translations can match the majesty of expression like, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
I believe that my belief in one God despite the multiplicity of religions dates back from then when as little children, black, white, yellow and brown in elementary school we recited our tables and our scriptures without questioning the value or veracity of either.
School was fun and Christmas was a treat.
If Dr Watson ever thought of asking me what I loved about Christmas, I would have said: “Alimentary, my dear Watson.”
Whichever school I attended we had a school treat. Buns and soft drinks were what we looked forward to from the time we got into December. No end of the world stuff for us. No Mayan prophecy or planet from nowhere blasting us out of existence.
In fact, like all the other children in my class, I completed a form and posted it to the Voice Of Prophecy (VOP), a Seventh-Day Adventist Bible school founded in 1929. They sent me back a small button which I wore on my shirt pocket. Finding me tractable, they kept sending me little religious leaflets which I read.
Home at Christmas time was not just food and drinks, but gifts. I remember a train set which set me on the right track and is still evident in that I am very well trained although people sometimes think I am crazy enough to have loco motives. Then there were the carols. This was a time when church groups abounded and went from house to house singing Christmas carols.
My favourite carol, which I had heard many times in my youth and even assayed briefly when a decision was made by a tone-deaf teacher to put me in the school choir because of my “bass” voice, was We Three Kings.
I had started teaching in a secondary school and the new principal, a Presbyterian pastor, gathered the teachers together in his home where, prior to serving the turkey, he insisted on our singing carols together. I can carry a tune so far and no further.
I either drop it beyond resurrection or take it to heights that my bass voice was not designed for. Despite this, the sheer belief of the three wise men continues to fascinate and inspire me.
One Christmas Eve, waiting for an El Al flight, a traveller started talking to three of his fellow passengers. Even though the flight was late, they did not seem unduly concerned.
“We do this trip every year,” one of the men said with what sounded like a Spanish accent. “In some ways it seems we’ve been doing this forever.”
“Yes,” said the other man, who was distinctly Indian. “Long before El Al we got there however we could. Field, fountain, moor, mountain – we crossed them all. There was snow on the Khyber Pass the first time I did it.”
The third, dark-skinned, added: “I first made it from Timbuktu and would do it again if I had to. It was worth it.”
Then after a pause, the first man said: “Looks like we’ll be here for a while. Let me introduce myself. You can call me Felix but my name is Navidad. Feliz Navidad.”
The second man added: “As you may have guessed, I am from India. I am Bada Din Mubarak Ho.”
The third man said solemnly: “They call me Kuwa. My full name in Swahili is Kuwa na Krismasi njema.”
The traveller looked at them and laughed. Holding out his hand he said: “Pleased to meet you all. I’m Chris Kringle.”
• Tony Deyal was last seen saying those who doubt the existence of Santa or the three wise men should remember what Sherlock Holmes said: “How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”?
