There comes a time of year when people tend to go one of two extreme ways. They either get super happy feel-good warm and fuzzy, wishing peace on earth and all that, or they tend to turn into giant green monsters that will breathe fire upon all Wal-Marts until they get the best deal for their little kids' Christmas, er, excuse me... holiday presents. Unfortunately, our mass marketing gurus who overwhelm us from, oh... before Halloween through December, tell us things like "Christmas costs less at Wal-Mart".
I am not making that up. Let that sink in, all you good gentile boys and good gentile girls (sorry, had a Weird Al moment).
Christmas costs less... yes sir, I remember growing up my parents told me how much it cost us each year to remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus. After all, He came for those who buy the most expensive Blu-Ray players and all. Either that, or He came to show us the way of salvation and to be our salvation. The coin has been flipped and it is still in the air (though I know which way it will land).
Now, this isn't to say we shouldn't get gifts for our loved ones. Our friends. Heck, even a stranger. In fact, gift giving goes back a long way. Sure, there's the story of St. Nicholas (the historical man, not the big fat man we let in our homes with our vulnerable children without checking proper ID and making sure that red nose and cheeks and falling down a chimney aren't a result of wonton drunkenness), but it goes farther than that. The Magi, of course, brought gifts to the Christ Child. Probably not on the exact day He was born (which wasn't Dec. 25 anyway), but still, they came, they saw, they gifted.
But please, let's stop this "Christmas costs less" stuff. Christmas costs nothing. The gifts we get each other to celebrate can cost money, of course. But Christmas itself is free. Maybe if we all remembered that, and got gifts for each other out of a sense of true celebration rather than "I have to get this and that so they'll have a Good Christmas and I won't look cheap", we'd all be less like the green fire-breathing monster and a little more like the happy-feel-good-warm-fuzzy person. I'll leave you with a quote from the best Christmas group out there (in my opinion): the Trans-Siberian Orchestra:
For everything given
Something is gained
Strike one match in the dark
And all the world's not the same.
I am not making that up. Let that sink in, all you good gentile boys and good gentile girls (sorry, had a Weird Al moment).
Christmas costs less... yes sir, I remember growing up my parents told me how much it cost us each year to remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus. After all, He came for those who buy the most expensive Blu-Ray players and all. Either that, or He came to show us the way of salvation and to be our salvation. The coin has been flipped and it is still in the air (though I know which way it will land).
Now, this isn't to say we shouldn't get gifts for our loved ones. Our friends. Heck, even a stranger. In fact, gift giving goes back a long way. Sure, there's the story of St. Nicholas (the historical man, not the big fat man we let in our homes with our vulnerable children without checking proper ID and making sure that red nose and cheeks and falling down a chimney aren't a result of wonton drunkenness), but it goes farther than that. The Magi, of course, brought gifts to the Christ Child. Probably not on the exact day He was born (which wasn't Dec. 25 anyway), but still, they came, they saw, they gifted.
But please, let's stop this "Christmas costs less" stuff. Christmas costs nothing. The gifts we get each other to celebrate can cost money, of course. But Christmas itself is free. Maybe if we all remembered that, and got gifts for each other out of a sense of true celebration rather than "I have to get this and that so they'll have a Good Christmas and I won't look cheap", we'd all be less like the green fire-breathing monster and a little more like the happy-feel-good-warm-fuzzy person. I'll leave you with a quote from the best Christmas group out there (in my opinion): the Trans-Siberian Orchestra:
For everything given
Something is gained
Strike one match in the dark
And all the world's not the same.
