Merry Christmas or bah-humbug?

 

Another year, another Christmas rant.

I do really love the Christian Christmas season, but I grow ever more despondent with the secular Christmas.

The good;

• The birth of Christ. Nothing in this season is greater than that.

• The Christmas Mass. An evening of beauty in which my soul releases a sigh of relief which permeates the heavens.

• Giving and receiving. I’ll play devil’s advocate with that shortly.

• Spending time with family.

• The cheerfulness in the air among almost everyone you meet.

• You get to wear those “Jesus is the reason for the season” buttons or bumper stickers.

The bad;

• The materialism that is created thanks to black Friday sales and the hope that buying something at a deep discount will make me happier. Think about it. Other than getting gifts for the children, most of the buying we do is for someone that doesn’t really need anything so that it can lay around in a home which doesn’t have room for anything else. Then we have to buy a bigger home to house all the stuff that is cluttering up our lives. We spend money we don’t have to buy stuff others or ourselves don’t need. Crazy!

• The awkwardness of the cashiers wondering whether or not to say “have a good Christmas”. They don’t want to offend anyone ya know.

• The misguided giving. I just heard in the news that some wealthier people have been dropping into Walmart and paying peoples lay-away bill. That is great, but what about the poor people who will not have a warm home or meal to enjoy Christmas. They did not spend money that they don’t have to buy stuff that they don’t really need.

 I am not opposed to giving or receiving. I love to get presents especially when I don’t know what they are. I love watching the kids opening up their gifts. I love getting good deals on items I may or may not need. I love boosting the economy. But, when all is said and done, we must one day answer our Lord about how we spent our time, our treasure and our efforts. Did we promote the Christian Christmas or did we promote the secular Christmas?

God bless and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!