Today we are 11 days from the big Holiday of each year, Christmas, or for those Jewish Hanukkah has begun. It’s to be a special time of year for family and friends, and a time of giving love and gifts to one another. Which in my book is great each year, for it allows us to see those we love. Although the commercialization of the holiday is beyond belief.
The Sales ads start on Thanksgiving Day, the decorations change to Christmas and the ads fly left and right. Something tells me, this is not the way, the Holiday was intended to be. I thought it was a time for giving and showing love to those you have the best feelings of. Try as you may in today’s economy it is not a time for money to be flying about, is it? Yet we still rush to and fro, looking for deals and things people want that we know. Ever stop to think what was the first Christmas about, and what is it really supposed to mean.
Religions, detail stories of Christmas as a time of Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men. Does anything in that definition say buy me presents and make me smile, no! The Catholics and Christians say Jesus was born on Christmas and died and was resurrected a short time later. But how much of this religious story is true, we may never know. The truth is no one knows really where civilization came from or if religion is the answer or evolution, or as some may say the Big Bang Theory.
Years ago as a young teen, I had an argument with a very old friend who has passed now many years ago. She got so mad at me she threw me out of her home for a few years. Her argument was the Bible, and God created it all, and I of course for arguing sake took the Evolution/ Big Bang Theory. We argued and argued back and forth till she finally threw me out. Two years later she forgave my because her daughter convinced her to, and our friendship continued on from there.
Whether the meaning of Christmas is to say Thanks for Jesus‘s Birth, or some other meaning, it is important to note, not all can afford to give and receive gifts in todays day and age. Many are suffering without income, homes, and are hungry this year. Back before the commercialization of the Holiday Season, people made toys for children out of wood, and wires and cloth you see, there was no Nintendo, or X-Box 306 or PlayStation 3. There was no electronic wonders and toys cost less. I use to get toy building blocks and my sister got dolls. We got microscopes and bikes later and bats and balls and gloves. Dollhouses were big for girls of course, as were clothing of all kinds and make-up. The biggest toy I ever got and loved was an Erector Set and built a ferris wheel with it, I used to watch it spin from its little electric motor and stare for hours at it. Books were big too back then, reading was encouraged and enjoyed and us kids loved a good story then.
But today, is video games, HD TVs, Stereos, cells phones, computers, and few children go out and play anymore. They are glued to a big screen TV, pressing buttons on controllers for one video game console or another. Then we complain they are getting lazy, they don’t want to do anything or work. It’s not their faults parents it is ours. We need to stop giving them everything they want and start making them earn it all once again, through chores, homework and basic principles and morals and ethics our own parents used on us. We have slid too far down the scale of being too good to our kids and spoiled them all out. They now believe they have a right to live at home for as long as they want, and get what ever they want from us. Wrong, wrong, wrong. There does come a time when the apron strings get cut!. We need to show them too, or they will be worthless and lazy once we are gone.
So as The Holiday Season draws closer each day and the calendar slips closer to it all, stop and think of what you need to give and receive most on this Holiday. It’s not material items, it’s not how much money you spend, it’s not what you receive either. It’s really the love and caring and sharing you can do that makes the Christmas and Hanukkah Holiday true!
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