Out of curiosity, I Googled “top Christmas gifts 2011.”
With a single mouse click, I remembered why this most wonderful time of the year doesn’t always bring enjoyment.
Overpriced electronic devices. Spikasaurus back packs. A drum-banging Elmo.
Cheap. Impractical.
Definitely not the reason for the season.
I’m not saying “Bah, humbug” to the holidays. It’s just that I want Christmas to get its true groove back.
When airwaves and advertisements bombard us with a stocking full of unnecessary “must-haves” and prey on our psyches, making people feel like inadequate parents or grandparents or siblings or significant others because we didn’t go to “that” jewelry store or a certain major electronics outlet, I draw the line in the yellowing Christmas snow.
I dare you to show how the revolutionary, got-to-own-it item will make my holiday merry and bright.
No, this time of year, my mind drifts to writer Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who wrote a beautiful, truthful poem – “Christ Climbed Down” – about the holiday and how for many people, Christmas has lost significance because of the commercialization associated with the season that begins as early as July in some retail stores.
Shoot, daughter Cassie made it on a CNBC report about early Christmas sales back in September because she snapped a photo of Christmas decorations in Grand Island’s Hobby Lobby in early August.
Look at Christmas by the numbers supplied by the U.S. Census Bureau. Last year, retail sales for December totaled $27.2 billion, with five retail areas noting major increases: clothing stores, 33 percent; electronics, 44 percent; sporting goods, 58 percent; book stores, 92 percent; and jewelry, 113 percent.
Online shopping and mail-order retail totals hit $34 billion dollars.
What about decorations? Tree ornament imports – primarily from China – reached $983 million. And those tinseled or artificial Christmas trees, also shipped from China, had sales reaching $79.7 million.
Staggering figures. Are you willing to bankrupt your bank account or max out credit cards so those you love have a holly jolly Christmas?
If you think about some of your happiest holiday moments, I imagine it’s not the pile of presents you’ll remember most.
No, I imagine for many of you, some of your fondest moments involve hope, faith and family.
And, probably food. Definitely the traditional Christmas Eve pot of chili or oyster soup served at our annual get-together.
All of us cousins may have begged our grandparents to let us open a present prior to Christmas Day, but it never happened. Nope. Instead, we’d put on our Christmas best, load up in cars and pickups, and follow the bright star to town for Christmas Eve service. We’d sing “O Holy Night” and listen to the Nativity story. When the lights would dim and only candlelight glowed through the church, we’d stare with wonder and delight at the promise of hope and love surrounding us.
Suddenly, the premise of a pretty package paled in comparison.
From the Schindler house, we wish you a Merry Christmas and joyful holiday season, filled with family and renewed hope.
