Christmas Just Ain’t What It Used To Be
I remember as a child that Christmas was a very exciting time. I always enjoyed getting together with my family that I didn’t get to see throughout the year. I enjoyed all the magic and wonder of Christmas. Christmas never seemed stressful. Fast forward to adulthood, and Christmas seems vastly different. Everyone seems so stressed out. I just read through some of the many Facebook statuses and everyone is stressed about getting the perfect gifts and all the food prepared for Christmas. Why has a holiday that was intended to celebrate the birth of Christ turned into something so commercial and barely recognizable as Christ’s birthday? Many people who celebrate Christmas are not even celebrating Christ’s birth. They are celebrating the traditions of gift giving and family gatherings. There’s so much pressure at Christmas to buy the perfect gifts for everyone on our list often putting stress on those without the financial means to do so. Christmas has turned into so much doing without much thought or care behind the doing. You just mail the 3,000 Christmas cards out to everyone because you have to. I love sending cards to those I love, as well as purchasing gifts for those I love, but when it’s in mass quantity, it’s pretty hard to keep up with and the meaning behind it is lost. I can’t imagine that God would be to pleased with us fighting over the sales at Walmart and Best Buy while people are trampled over, even killed. How Christ like is that? I can’t imagine that God is pleased with us supporting large corporations that keep their workers living in poverty and force them to utilize programs like Medicaid while the CEO’s triple their wealth. There are many alternatives to showing people you care without oppressing others. Why can’t we just get together with friends and family without all the pressure? You don’t have to participate in the commercialism of Christmas, but you don’t have to be a Grinch about it either. Just live within your means and do what you can. After it’s all said and done, nobody will remember or know the difference anyway. So, my challenge to you this Christmas is to do your part to make it what it’s supposed to be.
Tags: Christmas
