The 12 days of Christmas 🎄
By: Damilola Arulogun
Tags: Christmas, Bible, Jesus, Gold, England

T’was the week before Christmas, amidst the hustle and bustle of Lagos State, saddled with the bump and grind of the Christmas season, I pondered upon the significance of the current times, with regard to how it would impact the blogosphere and I thought to myself; What’s even the meaning of the song “The 12 days of Christmas” and guess what I found?

Well… You don’t have to guess; I’ll tell you…

Fun fact: In the Christian tradition, the “12 days of Christmas” begin on Christmas day (December 25th) and end 12 days later (January 6th) with the day of Epiphany. Apparently, That’s how long it took the wise men to travel to Bethlehem after the birth of Jesus.

Some say that “The Twelve Days of Christmas” are coded references to Christianity. They suggest the song was written to help Christians learn and pass on their faith while avoiding persecution hundreds of years ago in England.

Now, some people believe this, some don’t. Whether this is true or not, I think it’s pretty cool, so I thought to use this song that we all know to help us remember some truths about our faith and who we are during this festive season. I sha want to give you something else to think about asides the Jollof Rice and Chicken

So Check it out:

Jesus died upon a tree (a partridge in a pear tree) and his death led to the beginning of a new covenant so now we have both the old and new testament (two turtle doves). And as we all know, after 3 days, Jesus rose from the dead (Three French hens). Now we have 4 gospels that teach us all about his life: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, (The four calling birds). They were the new testament version of the Pentateuch; The first 5 books of the old testament (The Five Golden rings). The first of which contains details of the 6 days of creation (Six Geese a laying).

Guess who was created on the 6th day? Us. And now we strive to aim for perfection like a good Christian should (in biblical numerology, 7 represents perfection) therefore, the 7 swans that are swarming. Funny thing about swans is that when you see them on a lake, they look gentle and calm but in actuality, they are kicking away beneath the water. That’s the only way they could glide so beautifully. Just like we have to work hard every single day to be righteous, if not, we’ll walk right off the path. As we live, we need some guidelines such as the 8 beatitudes (the Eight maids a milking). Being a milk maid was one of the lowest jobs to do, they were indeed the poor and meek just like a true disciple is.

If we follow these guidelines, we can then produce the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit (The Nine ladies dancing). According to Galatians 5, against these 9 fruits, there is no law, not even the 10 commandments (Ten lords a leaping). Thank God for the 11 faithful Apostles [since Judas decided to ja pa]; (Eleven pipers piping) that made sure to teach God’s law and spread it all over the world which in the old testament was depicted as the 12 tribes of Israel. We are the new 12 tribes of Israel (The Twelve drummers drumming) meant to beat our drums to call people’s attention to the one and only Truth.

I love how no matter what day you’re singing about; you still always end with the Partridge in a pear tree; Jesus. The reason for the season. Let's not forget that.

Till next year my people

Hasta la vista