Random Thoughts on Christmas and Commercialism

I love Christmas. I always have, even as a child, but not the way most kids do. My family wasn't well off; we weren't poor, but Christmas was never about presents. We always had a tree, which my dad let me decorate by myself every year, and sometimes there would be a few things under it, but for me the tree was just a visible symbol of the spirit of the season. I loved the message of new beginnings, forgiveness, redemption, and love, whether it was Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", or the Grinch (Scrooge in green fur!), or Jimmy Stewart in "It's A Wonderful Life", or even Frosty the Snowman, which is quite possibly the silliest of the "classic" Christmas stories.

Most of all, though, I love the original Christmas story, the birth of Jesus, read aloud from the King James Version of the Bible. Here is the ultimate gift, given to all people for all times, the most perfect redemption of all people by God through the birth, death and resurrection of His only Son.

All this comes to mind as I ponder the sad condition of modern society. I was listening to James Dobson's "Focus on the Family" broadcast a few days ago, and he was speaking about retailers and merchants who have removed all references to Christmas from their stores, catalogs, and websites. One particular item that caught my attention was about Lowe's hardware stores, which are selling Christmas trees, only they call them "holiday trees" or "family trees", depending on which store you go to. This borders on absurdity...who needs to be pacified to this extreme, and when did "tolerance" start meaning "don't say anything that hints at Christianity"?

Then, Tuesday night, ABC TV aired the "Charlie Brown Christmas" show, (although why they rushed it in the week after Thanksgiving puzzles me; it isn't even December yet!) and I got to see my favorite scene: Linus, reciting from Scripture, explaining the very meaning of Christmas.



I was refreshed again, even though I noticed the copyright of the show is 1965; it saddens me to think how far out society has drifted. But that was then, and this is now, and I can only wait anxiously for the return of our King, and the glorious world He will bring, when all people will understand what Christmas was all about.

He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! (Rev. 22:20, NKJV)