Life In The Middle

Celebrating The True Meaning Of Christmas And Avoiding The Commercialism

I am having a hard time recognizing that soon it will be Christmas. The stores are decked out with the new stuff they want you to feel it’s a necessity to own. Everything is the “latest style”, the “highest quality”, and the “newest design”. What does all this really mean? It means if the advertisers can hit the right response, you will be owning one of the seasons newest gizmos.

It is interesting to sit back in a neutral way and watch how the big boys convince a person to hand over their hard earned money for an “upgrade” of an item they already own. One of the biggest agents for the marketing industry are children. This has been played upon since the first sales fliers were created by Ivory Soap, and The Coca Cola Bottling Company.

We have become so dulled by all the shopping chatter that analysis and thought seems to have been set by the wayside. We buy because a sign tells us”Lowest Price!”. Our five year old tells us that Santa needs to buy them a Dancing Elmo, and we buy. What is this all about?

Christmas has turned into a time when parents can redeem themselves of any guilt they feel because they are struggling financially, or they’re a single parent, or they couldn’t afford to have their daughter take dance lessons with the popular girls. It also relieves the guilt of daycare, long hours at the office, being too tired to read a bedtime story, and missing the last teacher’s conference. When Christmas is reduced to solving our short comings, and relieving us of the guilt we’ve accumulated over the year, it is a sad commentary.

The real meaning of Christmas shouldn’t be lost among the commercialism of the season. This doesn’t mean you can’t string the Christmas lights, bake Christmas cookies, or light the candles. It simply means we need to put it in the right perspective. We need to remember the cookies we bake for friends and neighbors, and the gifts we give are given from our hearts, not because of guilt. Christmas isn’t about the number of gifts, or the price they cost. Christmas is about love, and appreciation. Most of all it is a token of remembrance of the gift of the baby Jesus, born in a manger, and wrapped in swaddling clothes. It is about shepherds, and wise men, and a star shining in the sky.

There are many things we can do that don’t have a price tag on it. Shoveling the neighbor’s walk way, or making a card often is more appreciated than some box of candy from the store. One young Mother has her children gather the toys and clothing they’ve outgrown, and takes them to a resale shop where they can become an economical gift to another little boy or girl. Another family has made a tradition of shopping for gifts for a homeless shelter.

I know that the commercial aspect of the holiday season isn’t going to go away, but I hope that we take the time to really listen to the words of those Christmas carols. I hope we don’t selfishly overfill our children’s Christmas stockings hanging from the mantel, because we want to redeem ourselves to our children, or think by over buying we can stamp the bill of our shortcomings “PAID IN FULL”. Just something to think about. Until next year...Colleen

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Copyright 2009 Leland Pulley