Have you ever explored our site by country?  We have tagged all of our products with the country they were made in so that you can explore by Provenance!  I thought it would be fun to explore a Christmas theme and match a video from a country with a product from one of our members.  It was an exercise and took me much longer than I expected as I explored YouTube for interesting videos for each location.  I thought about the people I’ve met who represent these places, what I know and what I don’t know…  The gorgeous cultural differences, their traditional garments, customs and talents…  And, how many of them are living with violence and fear.  War in Ukraine, gang violence in Haiti and Guatemala, and gun violence here in the United States….

The holidays can be lonely times for many people but they can also bring great joy and celebrations of love and compassion.  I hope that this tour around the world will bring you some comfort and a feeling of connectedness with people from faraway places. May there be peace in our troubled world!

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bulgaria

canada

“This is known as the oldest Christmas chant in Canada, and may very well be one of its oldest songs, if not the oldest. The piece has a very interesting history: it was first noted down in the 18th century in Québec, and it is said that it was written and composed by Jean Brébeuf, a French missionary who had traveled to New France in 1625. Brébeuf was nothing short of a linguistic genius, and had an extraordinary ability for languages. He learned the Wendat language, a member of the Iroquoian family of languages in North America, and even mastered it to the point of poetic and oratory fluency. According to this story, he then wrote what is known in French as the Noël Huron, or Jesous Ahatonnia, in the Wendat language.”  (text from video info)

ghana

guatemala

“Revelers in Guatemala City gave the devil a taste of his own medicine, by burning an effigy of Old Nick. The centuries-old ritual, known as ‘the burning of the devil,’ marks the start of the holiday season. To celebrate, a giant devil figure is crafted out of cardboard, outfitted with a trident, and painted a classic, hellfire red. Then, as the sun sets, the Prince of Darkness goes up in flames. The bonfire symbolizes purification and the destruction of evil.” (text from video.  I had never heard of this!)

haiti

kyrgyzstan

latvia

peru

ukraine

u.s.a.

I grew up in Brazil (1962-1980) and Christmas was a huge deal for us in our church.  We prepared for it for a couple of months by practicing choir songs, learning parts for a Christmas play, making gifts for our friends and family, and dying with curiosity about what we would get.

My mother would buy candy at a local factory and I got to go a couple of times. What an overload of the senses!  We would set up an assembly line and fill a stocking of candy for every child in the church.

On Christmas Eve, our family would walk to the ice cream shop (it was summer there), and Dad would always stop and the gate, tap his forehead and say, “Oh!  I forgot something!  I will be right back.”  We giggled and rolled our eyes because we knew that he was playing Santa and that the tree would be full of presents when we got back.

In the evening, we would have a few people over, sit in the living room, read the Nativity story, sing a few hymns and then get our presents.  I’ll never forget my bicycle nor my tape recorder/radio!  Both were symbols of freedom!

Those are wonderful memories.  Many people in my community do not celebrate Christmas and that is fine.  But, I do hope that all of us can bring some good cheer and hope for those who are around us, whether they are close by or faraway.  I have recently started to follow James Talarico, a Texas Representative who is also pursuing a Master of Divinity at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, which he expects to complete in 2025.  In this video, he talks about how so many people feel like they are living in dark times, but how many religious traditions offer hope and an opening to light.  It is very refreshing to hear his words as most religious people these days seem to thrive on divisiveness, pride and even hatred.  Wherever we are, whatever we believe, let’s choose to let light and kindness shine through us.