The News is Next: The Commercialization of Christmas
I would like to first off say that I had a wonderful Christmas in Louisiana with my family there! I love spending time with the family and, all in all, I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas (minus it being like 80 degrees outside). I'm extremely thankful to God for letting me have the people in my life whom I have to be with, be them friends, lovers, or family. I couldn't ask for a better group.
That being said, this past Christmas I did see many things that were bothersome to me. Most of it has to do with the media taking Christmas and raping it, making it into something completely different than it is, for their own personal greed. To mass media, the only thing that matters is the ratings they get, regardless if it involves trashing something as "simple" as Christmas or lying to the entire world about a presidential candidate. In today's society, Christmas is all about the gifts. It's just not Christmas without presents. And they can't be cheap presents either, everything has to be the latest piece of technology, or the newest car, or the toy with the most flashing lights and strange sounds. Families gather on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day still, but it is just about the posessions.
This all got me thinking. I used to be that way, where posessions ruled over my life. If I didn't have the best technology or the greatest car, I wasn't happy. I've changed a lot since those days. Now, I see a dollar as just a peice of paper with ink on it. Money is just that: money. I can always make more of it, so why not help out a friend once in a while? I'm a computer engineering major, so of course technology is going to be important to me. But is it so important that having the latest technology in my hands is a priority? Absolutely not! Actually, the more important things to me are family and friends. Without them I wouldn't be who I am today.
Why, then, is Christmas, the birth day of our lord and savior Jesus Christ, all about the gifts and not about the meaning? I'm not saying it should be a day of mourning over his death which some people think it should be. Just the opposite: it should be a day of celebration! Of course it should be a festive time! In fact, I believe that Christmas should be the most festive time of year. Moreso than any other holiday. Think of it like this: your life was spared and all of your sins taken from you, so you could essentially stand before God with a clean slate, by the man who was born on December 25. I dont know about you, but to me that is one of the most festive days of the entire year for me just on that fact alone! What we should be celebrating though isn't just Christ's birth, it's God's love for us for giving his only son to us as a sort of sacrificial lamb.
I also understand the giving of gifts on Christmas day too. The wise men (there were probably more than 3 of them, but I won't go into that now) coming all the way from Persia to Bethlehem (essentially traveling all the way from Iraq to Israel if I remember right, correct me if I'm wrong) to see the newborn Jesus Christ. What three gifts are named that they brought?
Christmas, therefore, isn't a day of extravagant gifts where you get the best, latest, most high-tech things around. It's not about posessions at all actually, but it's only about the love that God showed for us by giving his only son to die for our sins. Wow, that's amazing that God would think so much of us to make that HUGE sacrifice.
We should stop looking at Christmas as a commercial holiday, and celebrate it for what it really is: the birthday of our Lord and Savior. Sing "happy birthday" to Jesus. Yell, scream from the rooftops your love for God. Give generously (not only on Christmas, but especially on Christmas). Christmas day is one massive birthday party, not a solemn day of mourning but a festive day of our salvation's beginning! Hallaleujah! So stop only looking at your possessions. The theory about possessions in the movie "Fight Club" was absolutely right: your possessions, over time, start to own you rather than you owning them!
Merry belated Christmas everybody, and Happy belated Birthday to Christ our Lord! Amen.
"The News Is Next."
That being said, this past Christmas I did see many things that were bothersome to me. Most of it has to do with the media taking Christmas and raping it, making it into something completely different than it is, for their own personal greed. To mass media, the only thing that matters is the ratings they get, regardless if it involves trashing something as "simple" as Christmas or lying to the entire world about a presidential candidate. In today's society, Christmas is all about the gifts. It's just not Christmas without presents. And they can't be cheap presents either, everything has to be the latest piece of technology, or the newest car, or the toy with the most flashing lights and strange sounds. Families gather on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day still, but it is just about the posessions.
This all got me thinking. I used to be that way, where posessions ruled over my life. If I didn't have the best technology or the greatest car, I wasn't happy. I've changed a lot since those days. Now, I see a dollar as just a peice of paper with ink on it. Money is just that: money. I can always make more of it, so why not help out a friend once in a while? I'm a computer engineering major, so of course technology is going to be important to me. But is it so important that having the latest technology in my hands is a priority? Absolutely not! Actually, the more important things to me are family and friends. Without them I wouldn't be who I am today.
Why, then, is Christmas, the birth day of our lord and savior Jesus Christ, all about the gifts and not about the meaning? I'm not saying it should be a day of mourning over his death which some people think it should be. Just the opposite: it should be a day of celebration! Of course it should be a festive time! In fact, I believe that Christmas should be the most festive time of year. Moreso than any other holiday. Think of it like this: your life was spared and all of your sins taken from you, so you could essentially stand before God with a clean slate, by the man who was born on December 25. I dont know about you, but to me that is one of the most festive days of the entire year for me just on that fact alone! What we should be celebrating though isn't just Christ's birth, it's God's love for us for giving his only son to us as a sort of sacrificial lamb.
I also understand the giving of gifts on Christmas day too. The wise men (there were probably more than 3 of them, but I won't go into that now) coming all the way from Persia to Bethlehem (essentially traveling all the way from Iraq to Israel if I remember right, correct me if I'm wrong) to see the newborn Jesus Christ. What three gifts are named that they brought?
- Gold. A vauable metal. Most of us now wear it as bracelets and necklaces. I'd like to assume thats how it was brought to Jesus also, but its not mentioned so far as I can see.
- Frankincense. Most people only see "incense" which is associated with the stuff that you burn and smells good and such. The actual stuff is Frankincense, which is a heavy-duty painkiller.
- Myrrh. Basicly, embalming fluid.
Christmas, therefore, isn't a day of extravagant gifts where you get the best, latest, most high-tech things around. It's not about posessions at all actually, but it's only about the love that God showed for us by giving his only son to die for our sins. Wow, that's amazing that God would think so much of us to make that HUGE sacrifice.
We should stop looking at Christmas as a commercial holiday, and celebrate it for what it really is: the birthday of our Lord and Savior. Sing "happy birthday" to Jesus. Yell, scream from the rooftops your love for God. Give generously (not only on Christmas, but especially on Christmas). Christmas day is one massive birthday party, not a solemn day of mourning but a festive day of our salvation's beginning! Hallaleujah! So stop only looking at your possessions. The theory about possessions in the movie "Fight Club" was absolutely right: your possessions, over time, start to own you rather than you owning them!
Merry belated Christmas everybody, and Happy belated Birthday to Christ our Lord! Amen.
"The News Is Next."