Christmas has come with cold days, good food, family time, and maxed out credit cards. Christmas is the most special holiday for many people, but has the meaning of Christmas disappeared to the latest technological and materialistic trends? Since when has the holiday season become such a money making scheme to the corporate world?
“Christmas is not really about the myth of three astrologers trekking across the Middle East to see a magic baby. Nor is it about slopping gravy at a homeless shelter or plunking coins into a bucket outside a mall,” stated Wayne Dunn writer for Capitalism Magazine.
Dunn, who tried to keep his article in the magazine neutral, without emotion, soon found himself confused that no one knows what Christmas really means.
The idea of Christmas being too commercial has been a debate between the people who love shopping and becoming indebt with the credit card companies and the people that love spending time with their families while setting up the Nativity set.
Who has the right answer for the meaning of Christmas?
Is it the people that stand in cold weather asking for money donations for the needy or is it the people that compete on who have the better gifts?
According to several students on campus, “Christmas is time to spend with family and enjoy the gifts God has given you.”
However, other TAMIU students have mentioned that “Christmas is only a money making tool for companies and that really doesn’t mean any thing to them.
Other students stated that “Christmas is really about the gift giving. Giving the great gifts is what most people care about in the first place.”
D’Arcy Lyness of kidshealth.org stated, “Not only is the pressure on to spend money on the right present, but many people also find that when gifts become the focal point of a holiday, it puts too much emphasis on receiving, too.”
How important is it for a person to just give a gift to someone because that someone gave them a gift vs. actually wanting to give a gift because that person wants to?
“It’s all too easy to have high expectations of what’s in that beautifully wrapped box – and that can set anyone up for disappointment. When the materialistic aspects of the holiday overshadow its meaning and that can leave people feeling empty and wishing for something more. It’s no wonder that we often hear about people having the “holiday blues” – feeling sad or empty instead of happy and fulfilled,” stated Lyness.
Most advertisements shown on the television do pressure people to buy the perfect gifts, have the perfect party, and actually get along with families and friends. However, the idea of a perfect Christmas can actually be hard for people to face.
No person can actually have a perfect Christmas and no one really knows the meaning of Christmas. Christmas is based on the event of the birth of the savior of the world which took place along time ago, but many people do not believe that to be true.
No matter how much people stress over the perfect gift or the finding the true meaning of Christmas, the holidays will always be a stressful time for everyone. The important thing to consider is that whatever makes a person happy can be the only meaning of Christmas.