What Happened to Christmas
I saw an answer to that question on The Huffington Post that I think probably sums it up nicely. Christmas has changed from a time of giving to a time of getting. Stores want to get more money so they put up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving to get us buying early and often. The kids, and even some adults, have become totally involved in figuring out what they should get for Christmas rather than what they should do for others for Christmas.
Christmas is one of very few religious holidays recognized as a legal holiday in this country and now atheists are wanting to take it. They want us to forget about God and what Christmas is supposed to be a celebration of, namely the birth of the Messiah. Some places are being forced to include atheist signs or posters with Christmas decorations and virtually all are now having to use terms like "holiday sale", "celebration tree", etc. to keep religion out of the celebration of the birth of Jesus! They want to get their wish on a religious holiday but no one else.
The news media contributes by evaluating the success or failure of the season by how much the stores sell rather than on what people did to give to others.
If you are still a believer in the real Christmas, make sure this is a year for giving to others rather than looking for what you can get out of it for yourself. Bring gifts to a homeless shelter, a nursing home (you might be shocked at how many of these folks get nothing for Christmas and how much they appreciate someone going to the trouble to bring them a small gift), or a children's ward at a hospital. Volunteer to serve at one of those charities that give out free meals for Thanksgiving and Christmas. If nothing else, at least donate some money to charity, although I think for some, that ends up as giving for the wrong reason, namely, to stroke their own ego, so, if your one of those folks, it would be much better for you to do something this Christmas rather than just giving money. And you don't have to be a Christian to participate. Even those atheists are welcome as far as I'm concerned, as long as they save that "God is a fraud" button for some other holiday like Groundhog day.
Christmas is one of very few religious holidays recognized as a legal holiday in this country and now atheists are wanting to take it. They want us to forget about God and what Christmas is supposed to be a celebration of, namely the birth of the Messiah. Some places are being forced to include atheist signs or posters with Christmas decorations and virtually all are now having to use terms like "holiday sale", "celebration tree", etc. to keep religion out of the celebration of the birth of Jesus! They want to get their wish on a religious holiday but no one else.
The news media contributes by evaluating the success or failure of the season by how much the stores sell rather than on what people did to give to others.
If you are still a believer in the real Christmas, make sure this is a year for giving to others rather than looking for what you can get out of it for yourself. Bring gifts to a homeless shelter, a nursing home (you might be shocked at how many of these folks get nothing for Christmas and how much they appreciate someone going to the trouble to bring them a small gift), or a children's ward at a hospital. Volunteer to serve at one of those charities that give out free meals for Thanksgiving and Christmas. If nothing else, at least donate some money to charity, although I think for some, that ends up as giving for the wrong reason, namely, to stroke their own ego, so, if your one of those folks, it would be much better for you to do something this Christmas rather than just giving money. And you don't have to be a Christian to participate. Even those atheists are welcome as far as I'm concerned, as long as they save that "God is a fraud" button for some other holiday like Groundhog day.
I have enjoyed the past few Christmas's more than ever. After years of Christmas being stressful with dealing with the crowded stores, traffic, angry rushing people, the pressure to buy and so on we decided to do things differently. We do buy gifts for people but we changed how we did it. We buy heart felt things rather than the latest thing TV commercials are telling us we should buy. We do it early so we're not caught up in the stress of it. We do what we can afford and don't set ourselves in credit card debt for the entire following year as many do. We avoid the commercial pressure, crowds, traffic etc by doing all of our shopping on line. But more importantly we changed our attitudes. We do not in the least think about what we can get, we ask for nothing for ourselves. We make phone calls to family members and friends and try to think of people we haven't seen or talked to in a long while and surprise them with a call. My husband and I do not exchange gifts and it feels wonderful! People always ask what Phil get you for Christmas and when I say we don't exchange gift they always look at us funny and stutter their words searching for something to say like it's a sad situation. It's not, we love Christmas and we love each other and we truly enjoy our Christmas together. We buy for charities instead of each other and we spend Christmas morning thinking about the joy our gifts hopefully brought to someone less fortunate. We sleep in and have coffee by the fireplace and spend quality time together. We cook our meal together and go out and play in the snow and most importantly we thank God for the blessing we have. We donate our time to deliver meals to those who can't get to the dinner that's offered in town for the less fortunate. We also volunteer at the local food pantry. We live in a small town and the pantry is a trailer hooked to the back of a truck in a parking lot and we stand outside and assist people in getting their food. The trailer is shaky so I assist people down the stairs as they come out and my husband carries their bags or box to the car for them. We freeze outside and my arthritis aches from the cold but our hearts are full and our spirits lifted and we enjoy it very much. We do the same for Thanksgiving. The saying it's better to give than receive is so true. I feel so blessed to know that. I encourage people to donate to charity in whatever amount you can afford, even if it's just the change in your pocket. Every penny helps. there is always someone needier than you so don't feel it's not enough, everything is appreciated. If your able to, volunteer. It is amazing the feeling you will get. I have always loved the movie Scrooged in all it's various versions. At the end I always cry no matter how many years I watch them. The feeling when you volunteer is like that feeling at the end of the Scrooged movies. Merry Christmas everyone!
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Scrooge is a forite of mine also. Especially the old British one from the early sixties and Scrouged starring Bill Murray.
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