My thoughts on…Christmas
Christmas has come and gone. The food has run through our systems, the presents have been unwrapped, the decorations have been put away, and the commercials are off the air. And I couldn’t be happier. “What’s wrong with you?”, you may ask. “Even atheists like Christmas!” Don’t get me wrong, I used to like Christmas. In fact, I looked forward to it more than my own birthday. But when I become old enough to realise that commercialism was now the true meaning of Christmas, my Christmas spirit took a nose dive. I’m tired of the overpriced trinkets, the commercials that try to dredge up childhood memories of Christmases past to sell their products, the hustle and bustle during the few days before Christmas and the false goodwill.
I felt more Scrooge-ish this year, ’cause I was flat broke. No wait, Scrooge has money, so I guess I felt more Grinch-ish. If it weren’t for the money my dad gave me, I wouldn’t be able to buy my little sister a present. Even though I despise the holidays, I keep up the charade of Christmas spirit for the benefit of my sister. She’s the only one in our family who actually looks forward to Christmas, as all youngsters do.
But some of my Christmas spirit was restored this year, as while my sister was shopping, she dropped some of her money. And some strangers returned it to her, strangers that looked like they’d rather take your money. Hearing Christmas carols on TV and seeing the joy in my sister’s face also helped. I do want to love Christmas again, to feel the way I did when I was a kid. But for now, I just need to focus on the real reason for the season. That’s the only thing that keeps me from strangling a mall Santa with his own beard.
I was kinda in the same mode earlier in the month and I had cause to relook at that stance. Two events caused me to rethink. One was the grant a wish programme on the TV. It saw ordinary people being granted wishes with the help of corporate Jamaica. I know they can’t fulfill all requests but they filled some and it says that the Spirit of the season still lives. The other was when I visited some friends and their Christmas family activity was to take food they had prepared into the town near them to feed the poorest of the poor in the town. The Spirit of the season alive in the lives of one family if only for a day.
I understand what you mean about the commerical aspect of things…however, I don’t allow that to stop me from enjoying the break from work, the sharing of good times with family and friends, the gift giving and receiving. It still is my favourite time of year. And I did make midnight Mass on Christams Eve.
The thing to do is to focus on the poitive sides of christmas. It won’t ever be the same excitement as when we were little children but still it’s a happy time of year.
Christmas too is not my time of the year really. But it is good to see that Christmas spirit is still alive.
You know whats wrong with you? You’re a communist! What have you got against making a profit?