Dec 16 2008
Can’t we all get along? It is Christmas, you know?
It’s that time of year again. We all jump in our cars, fight traffic, and head to the mall to buy gifts for our friends and loved ones. We’re full of Christmas cheer and the spirit of giving. And then we get to the mall and it starts.
We throw our favorite finger at people in the parking lot. We jostle and elbow each other in the stores. We complain about the lines. We treat the employees like garbage, and our fellow shoppers worse. Maybe we even figure it’s not worth it and give up buying that special gift, instead substituting something cheaper or easier to get. Merry Christmas to all, and all can just get the hell out of our way because we’re sick of this (bleep) and we’re going home to watch Lethal Weapon!
We all know that Christmas has become far more commercialized over the years, but is that the problem? Or could it be that we’ve forgotten why we go out there in the first place?
It certainly doesn’t help that anti-Christian liberals have made sure that Christmas is banned in schools. We grew up singing carols in our school Christmas plays; our kids are being taught about Kwanzaa. Malls don’t put up decorations the way they used to, and store employees are trained to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” because it might offend someone to say Christmas….at Christmas! Universities, cities, counties, states and even private companies ban everything from Christmas displays to Christmas parties to gift exchanges in the name of “inclusion,” which apparently means that if one person doesn’t like something, everyone else has to go without. And people don’t go to church the way they used to, even for Christmas mass.
The atheist, live-for-today, it’s-all-about-me ’60s hippie liberals are winning the ironically named but descriptive “fight for Christmas.” And our country and culture are losing.
Try to remember “reason for the season.” First and foremost, it is to celebrate the arrival of Christ. His name is right there in Christmas, so that shouldn’t be too hard. He came to save us from God’s wrath, and to teach us not only to be better in the eyes of God but to be better to each other. The liberal anti-Christian activists have drummed that out of many of you, and you need to get it back for more than one reason. Love, generosity, compassion, sacrifice…these are the primary messages of Christ and Christmas, beyond the obvious religious one. Are these not the same reasons we give at Christmas, even if we’re not Christians?
Bill Murray’s character in Scrooged said it best:
“It’s Christmas Eve. It’s-it’s the one night of the year when we all act a little nicer, we-we-we smile a little easier, we-w-w-we-we-we cheer a little more. For a couple of hours out of the whole year we are the people that we always hoped we would be.”
The next time you head to the mall and feel the urge to act the way so many people do while Christmas shopping, ask yourself: are you being the person you always hoped you would be?
Remember that the next time you go out to do your Christmas shopping. Approach every aspect of the experience from one direction: the reason you are doing it. Imagine the happiness on the faces of those you are buying for when they open your gifts. Think of how good it feels to make someone else happy. And every time you start to get impatient, remind yourself. If necessary, remind other people. Sometimes it works.
I was in a line once at our local mall, and it was moving very slowly. People were clearly agitated, looking at their watches and pacing in place. Some were beginning to complain. So I spoke up. I said “I love this.” People turned and looked at me like I was insane. I continued:
“I really love this. I love looking at the decorations. I love watching people picking out gifts for friends and loved ones. I love doing the same for mine. I even love standing in line. This is all part of the experience, and I enjoy it because it all leads up to the moment they open that present and I get to make them smile. And that’s why we’re all here, right? We’re going to make other people happy by sacrificing our time, effort and money. We’re not just giving the gift; we’re giving all of it, including standing in this line. So I just take it all in and enjoy it. It’s Christmas. It’s awesome, and I love it.”
By this time I was really speaking loudly, and at least twenty people had turned and listened. I don’t know why I did it. But only a couple rolled their eyes and muttered something less than complimentary. Almost everyone paused, then smiled. A few actually said things like “yeah” and “that’s right.” It made a difference.
I hope that if you are reading this, it will make that difference again.
God Bless you, and Merry Christmas.
