From Waverley’s Yew to Manipur : A peacemaker’s Christmas message of hope

Chongboi Haokip, MCIHort
Some of us are closely connected to both the hills and the valley in Manipur. I am one of those, as my roots lie in the hills of Manipur, and I was born and raised in Imphal. For all, home meant safety and belonging. Then one day, everything we had built turned to ash: our house, our photographs, the small objects holding our family’s story. Some nights, I still wake up wishing the fire were a dream and that we could go back in time to change what happened !
The violence began when people stopped speaking, stopped listening to one another. Many lost family members, and many lost more than I did. The shock paralysed me for days. I saw no gain in this suffering, no way to recover what was gone, so I chose a different path-the path of a peacemaker. ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God’ (Matthew 5:9 NIV). I pray we learn from this pain so future generations never have to bear it. To me, all people of Manipur are one family, and I carry their pain as my own.
As I visited the ruins of Waverley Abbey in Surrey, England, I felt we had to learn a lesson from a yew tree that rises from the ancient ruins with quiet de- fiance. For five hundred years, this tree has weathered storms, endured winters, and continued its slow, steady growth. When people in the United Kingdom chose this tree as Tree of the Year in 2022, their vote honoured endurance over speed and depth over spectacle. They saw hardship endured, strength grown through patience, and life refusing to yield to death.
As I reflect on my own path from loss toward purpose, this ancient yew speaks to me. We can learn a heart-touching message Manipur needs to hear - hope that endures, peace that heals, and love that rebuilds lives broken by violence.
The Shadow We Cannot Ignore
Manipur has seen deep division. Neighbours who once shared harvests and play now live as strangers, separated by fear. Mothers stay alert at night, fathers worry about their fields, and elders grieve both the losses and the broken relationships across the land.
Losing our home and all we owned in the fire pushed me to choose between bitterness and a harder, more hopeful path. Grief became a reason to carry pain honestly yet refuse to pass that pain on through more violence. Amid the human crisis, a second darkness spreads through the cultivation of poppies. Fields that once grew food now feed addiction and dependence. Youth lose strength, villages lose stable livelihoods, and forests and watercourse suffer damage. Money tied to poppy brings only loss, deepening hardship across Manipur.
The Light That Comes in Darkness
Christmas speaks of strong hope in dark times. Jesus was born among oppressed people, in a small town, to a poor couple. His life taught people to love enemies, forgive without limit, and give themselves for others.  Like the yew growing from ruins, this hope stays firm through hardship. Manipur will change only if people live out this hope in daily action.
A Path Forward: What Peacemaking Requires
The yew at Waverley teaches that resilience is not passive. It is active, deliberate, and built through countless small choices over time. As someone who has chosen the path of peacemaking, I have learned that healing requires both vision and practical steps. Manipur’s path forward must address both the current conflict and the crisis of illicit poppy cultivation with equal urgency.
Trust grows when people see each other as human again. Christmas offers a chance to do this through shared meals, stories, and time together in Churches, halls, and homes. Peace grows through small, repeated acts of respect, like sharing tea, comforting a child, or forming friendships across old divides. These moments are fragile but real, and they grow when people make room for them.
Young people face a big risk in crisis, through recruitment into conflict, illicit poppy farming, and addiction. The way forward invests in them through strong schools, sports that build teamwork across divides, skill training that offers dignity and income, and music, art, and cultural programs that honour heritage and give safe ways to express pain. A young person with purpose and community gains protection from despair, and I have seen lives change when even one caring adult refuses to give up.
The spread of illicit poppy cultivation must be met with a clear alternative vision.
Families need support to transition back to legal crops through cooperatives, microfinance, and market access. It is encouraging to see community awareness and exert social pressure to curb illicit poppy planting. Agricultural programs can introduce sustainable farming practices that restore soil health. The land of Manipur is meant to feed families, not fuel addiction. This reclamation is both practical and spiritual work - healing the land heals the people, and vice versa.
People trapped in addiction need routes to recovery that restore dignity. Treatment centres need funding and support from local communities. People in reco- very need work, structure, and a way back into daily community life. Families affected by addiction need education, support groups, and freedom from stigma. Christmas points us to a gospel centred on healing and redemption. Care for the suffering is not optional; it is the heart of what it means to follow the Christ child who grew up to touch lepers and eat with outcasts.
The Choice Before Us
There is a deeper connection between the yew tree and Christmas that gives me strength when the work feels impossible. In many old Churchyards, yew trees were planted because they symbolise eternal life - their wood is nearly imperishable, and they can regenerate from seemingly dead trunks. The yew at Waverley grows surrounded by ruins, just as the resurrection story emerged from a stone tomb. Both speak of life that cannot be contained by death. This is the ultimate Christmas promise: violence, hatred, and destruction do not have the final word. Love does, peace does, and hope, definitely. Let us forgive one another, embrace peace, and move forward - for our own well-being and for the future of generations yet to come!
Manipur needs this truth now. The conflicts seem out of hand as the wounds run deep. The problems appear overwhelming. According to the Woodland Trust, the roots of the yew are growing into and around the ruins of the English Heritage Site -the first Cistercian monastery founded in Britain 900 years ago - BBC Nov 4, 2022. If hope can be born in a stable and change the world, then healing is possible for Manipur too. I have seen my own life transform from ash to purpose. I have witnessed enemies become friends and communities choose dialogue over violence.
These are not miracles in the supernatural sense - they are miracles of human choice, repeated again and again until new patterns form.
As Christmas lights begin to shine across our hills and valleys, may they illuminate a path forward. May families divided by conflict find the courage to reach across boundaries, youth discover purpose that pulls them from darkness into light, the land poisoned by poppy be reclaimed for food and beauty, those in addiction find recovery and restoration! May the weary find rest and the grieving find comfort!
The yew still stands after five hundred years because its roots held firm. Manipur will stand too, when we choose to hold onto what is true, what is good, and what gives life. This Christmas, may that choice be made in many hearts across our state. The path of a peacemaker is long and often lonely, but it is the only path that leads home.
I invite you to walk it with me and many others today.
Wishing you all a truly blessed and redemptive Christmas, and a New Year bright with love, peace, and joyful promise !
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined. For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the Govt will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace-Isaiah 9:2, 6 NKJV.
Statement: I do not support illegal poppy culti- vation. I support sustainable alternatives that strengthen society and help affected farmers in Manipur. I stand firmly behind the Manipur Govt’s ‘War on Drugs’ campaign. As a strong, united community, we must work alongside Govt agencies that are helping farmers abandon illegal poppy farming. We, the people of Manipur, can eliminate unlawful poppy cultivation through collective effort. I call upon the entire Manipur community to unite as one team in this fight against illegal cultivation of poppy, working together to create sustainable livelihoods and a healthier future for all.
Chongboi Haokip, MCI Hort, is an international development consultant spe- cialising in agriculture, horticulture, and sustainable development.