Point of View Column: Toys or joys?
By JULIE GOETSCH
What has become of Christmas? What happened to the season of hope, giving and joy? The birth of Christ? Does anyone remember what Christmas is really all about?
I know that many during the Christmas season, these ideas are the last thoughts in my mind. In some ways, the Christmas season still is all of these things, but they seem to have different meanings now.
The season of hope. The primary wishes for many people are not for a better year next year, healthy family and friends, and other self-actualized hopes. The primary hopes are for better Christmas presents.
I have a wish list of things I would really like to see under the tree on Christmas morning. Presents are great. There is nothing like waking up on Christmas morning to see what new things are waiting for you.
Of course problems occur when we don’t get what we want – clothes that just are not in style, things that we already have. Or when we get something that just doesn’t do what we expected. Then we spend time in line the day after Christmas returning or exchanging those unwanted gifts.
The season of giving. Parents spend hours waiting in line fighting over the new and popular toy of the season. In the early 1980s, the toy was Cabbage Patch Dolls. (I eventually had three.)
This year it’s Furby.
We have bought into the mentality producers want us to have; your life will not be complete without the latest and best. We are shopping conformists.
On the day after Thanksgiving, stores are complete pandemonium. Everyone has to be there to get those products while they are hot.
Giving of yourself to those in need has gone to the wayside.
The season of joy. More like the season of never-ending stress. Must buy presents, plan Christmas dinner, deal with relatives, children out of school, send out Christmas cards….And, of course, the end of the semester for college students. There is a lot to accomplish in a short amount of time.
For me, the Christmas season starts the day after Thanksgiving with chopping down of the Christmas tree. But, if I wanted, it could start much earlier. Stores have their Christmas stuff out before summer is even over. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas decorations are all out at the same time.
Next thing you know, Christmas stuff will be out all year round. It’s all about profit for the producers.
As Christmas approaches, I hope that all of us will take time to think about what Christmas is about. It isn’t the presents, lines and other things we have come to associate with the holiday.
It is about love, true joy, hope and giving. And, of course, the birth of Christ.
If we take the time to think about the spirit of the holiday, then maybe the Christmas season can become a time of pure enjoyment.
12/10/98