Posted: Sep 18, 2008, 10:41 AM CST
Of course Christmas is too commercialized. However, if you look closely at holidays, you will see that most of them have been commercially co-opted. Mother's Day, for example, was seized upon by the floral industry, much to the dismay of its original founder, who intended the day to be a simple but meaningful occasion for honoring one's mother.
Even Halloween and Thanksgiving have been blown up into more than they once were in order to sell candy, food, and football games.
Christmas will always "mean something" to me. Yes, I know, literally speaking Christ was not born on December 25, but in early April, and the December celebration was meant to bring a festive air to what was an otherwise cold, dark time of year. But whenever it's celebrated, to me it means Jesus is born.
Frankly, although my family did observe the present-giving customs of Christmas -- certainly not on the scale that it is carried out today -- I feel rather sorry for people who spend so much time worrying about purchases when the true focus of the holiday should be spending time with loved ones. When I hear radio ads about people who are "tough to buy for," I wonder who on earth would be so rude as to openly criticize a gift someone bought to please them.Cause I was taught as a child and I taught my children as well that it's not the price of the gifts that counts but the thought/and the trouble that particular person spent and finding that gift and behind that gift which really counts.
My parents are gone now, but while my mother ws stil around I was able to learn from my mother the recipes for her prized holiday foods, and in whatever way possible I will pass that on to my son and his wife etc. While I don't always get to spend holidays with my family as most of them live hundreds of miles away, I would hope that our love bridges any distance. To me, that's really what a family is about.