Every year I hear people talking about how Christmas has become too commercialized and every year we continue to just grumble and become stressed about the whole holiday season and just wish it was over. It is literally the same every year. First comes Thanksgiving, then special sales, then parties and gatherings, then Christmas Eve services, then opening many, many presents, then big meals, then "relaxing" and visiting. Have you noticed the presents? Most of them are so superficial. Everybody gets excited about them as Christmas Day approaches but by mid-February most (if not all of them) are forgotten. We buy a whole heap of stuff but usually by the following Christmas we struggle to remember what it was we got last time. Why is that? No, really. Why? So much money gets spent on presents but what we get out of them is not proportionate. Hence my idea...
Next Christmas, let's just NOT buy a whole TON of gifts! We'll save a little bit of money which (contrary to what some economists tell us) actually really helps the economy; especially when it's money that we don't have (aka credit cards). Now I'm not saying to not have gifts next Christmas. I'm not saying that staring at each other around the Christmas tree thinking "Gee! It's great being non-materialistic!" I'm not saying that at all. What I AM saying is let's THINK of one (or two) gifts that will really, really be appreciated by our loved ones. Let's stop thinking superficially about Christmas gifts and get things that really speak to each others' personalities. For some people, this will mean working little by little on a big art project from August to December. For some, this will mean writing something to a person that will stick with them as being really, truly heartfelt. For some, this will mean taking a lot of photos and compiling a scrapbook. For some, this will mean learning about ice fishing, buying a few cheap supplies and planning a trip up to Minnesota for father-son or brotherly bonding time. You get my point. Basically, let's think about what really matters to our loved ones and going above and beyond to give it to them for next Christmas. I challenge you. Choose one or two people that you really want to express your love to as a gift next Christmas and then do it.
After all, this is EXACTLY what God did for us at Christmas time. He had been thinking for millennia and gave the absolute perfect gift that is beyond our wildest dreams. Imagine if He had chosen to give us 10,000 little things but left out the big one. The exact same thing that happens for most of our Christmases would have happened on a grand scale. We'd have gotten tired of the novelty and forgotten them fast. Let's give gifts next Christmas on a small scale like God gave us on a large scale.
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