This has become somewhat of a tradition. Here it is for the third year in a row (with some minor edits):
Call me scrooge, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, or your favorite Christmas villain of all time. I don't care. Christmas just gets in the way most of the time anyway. I have things to do, messages to preach, and money I would rather spend on myself (at least I would get what I wanted that way). bah humbug!!!
What is it with Christmas? Why did I see Christmas lights up before Halloween this year? I can't even have thanksgiving (a truly great holiday) without it being ruined by Christmas music and images of Santa in lights. Going to Target or Walmart only makes things worse with their mass marketing of a holiday that doesn't even resemble the real Christmas story.
I am no longer safe!! I must hibernate until New Years!!
Maybe this seems a little over the top, but why do we have to sing the same songs every year. Isn't there any new Christmas songs we can do? Thank God and some musicians I have finally found some. If someone sings Joy to the World one more time I might fall into a great big depression (so much for Joy)
Let's be real, Christmas isn't about Jesus anymore, it is about companies mass marketing to kids so they can bug there parents about the latest and greatest toy until mommy and daddy spend the kids college fund in order to get it for them (that makes a lot of sense, "my kid isn't very educated, but she had great toys growing up!!"). If Christmas were about Jesus there wouldn't be all this pressure to buy, buy, buy!!!!!! Buying a gift for someone you love is one thing, but being told you are going to a party and you "need" to bring a gift is a little much. What if I can't afford it?
I have had enough, I am boycotting Christmas this year(when my wife and kids aren't around). I am not decorating (until my 9 year old tells me to). I am definitely not going to watch any Christmas movies (really, I won't do that, they can watch without me. Ok, maybe one of the Tim Allen movies because they are sort of funny). I guess that means I am going to have to stay away from every store on the face of the planet and stop listening to the radio, but I think I can do that (thank BP for pay at the pump).
OK, I need to go drink some coffee before I loose it (I am not putting candy canes or some kind of Christmas spice in it either!!!!!!!!)
(For those of you who are upset I love the Christ of Christmas, it's everything else that gets me)
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3 comments:
Although I may not go as far as saying Christmas is stupid, I can definitely relate to some of your angst about the rampant commercialsm surrounding it. Back on Long Island, New York, where I'm from originally, Macy's would put its Christmas displays up on Labor Day weekend! It would always depress my husband and me to walk through the mall when it was still technically summer and see Christmas trees all over the place. To me, it took the "special-ness" out of Christmas.
Yesterday on Dr. Phil, the guest was a woman who hated Christmas and referred to it as a "hostage situation" because many people feel pressured to visit relatives for Christmas festivities, spending vast sums of money on airfare or risking life and limb to travel during blizzards. Her description really made me laugh, but in some ways it seems true, especially when family members make loved ones feel guilty if they don't make that annual Christmas visit. Every year for Christmas (or Thanksgiving), my husband and I endure almost a week of living in a zoo while visiting my in-laws, who have four dogs and five cats (and I am allergic to the cats). But if we didn't visit my mother-in-law for Christmas, her world would fall apart, so I guess it's the right thing to do. And it really isn't that much of a hardship to see her once a year. I just wish it could be at a time when we didn't have to worry about driving over the Raton Pass in icy conditions with blinding snow, LOL!
Julie Daube
Julie,
To be fair, I don't hate Christmas, and I really don't think Christmas is stupid. There are many thing I enjoy about it. Still I identify with the lady on Dr. Phil. Buying presents or being told you need to buy presents for people is a little much, especially for families that don't have a lot of extra money. There is a guilt associated with that. In many ways, this is probably something I struggle with because it is difficult for us to buy a lot of presents for nieces, nephews, parents grandparents, etc... I love Jesus, and I love the incarnation!!! I just don't always appreciate how we celebrate it.
I must agree Christmas is stupid. The thing I don't like about Christmas is that it is totally phony and a commercial event. The exact date of birth of Jesus is not completely known and if you look at how the tradition of Christmas evolved it is an assigned day. I see it just as a day used to increase sales and revenue. If you read an academic report about the history of Christmas you find out it evolved from Asia Minor, to Holland, integrating the myth of Sinter Klaus from Norse mythology, and how the current Santa is a creation/evolved image from the Coke Cola company. I consider Christmas a time for the brainwashed to fooled into spending more money than usual. Just imagine all the debts that could be paid off with that much money spent.
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