Blah Humbug

Has Christmas Really Changed...Or Is It Just Me?

I just cannot seem to get in the holiday spirit this year. Come to think of it...I have said the same thing for the last several years. I just feel so blah, so lost and so very sad. It annoys me that the stores begin putting up decorations and playing Christmas music before Halloween under the guise of “Holiday Spirit."...and before Thanksgiving even arrives...the madness begins.

I know how this sounds and truly...I do not hate Christmas....but I do not like how commercial this holiday has become at all. It breaks my heart to hear that it makes sad people feel even more sad, lonely people feel even more lonely, poor people feel even poorer and even the moderate-income folks are pressured to keep up.

It is pathetic how we suddenly remember poor people and homeless people for two weeks and then promptly forget about them again. I look all around and I see greed, commercialism, and hypocrisy all over the place. I cannot stand the profoundly tragic irony of increasing materialism in our children as part of the celebration of the birth of the Child for whom this very materialism was anathema to the will of God.

I confess... I do sometimes resent all the expectations and demands placed on me at Christmas. I’m not poor but I’m certainly not rich either, and I have bills to pay. There is an endless list of things I am expected to spend my money on - gifts for everyone, tips for all, food, Christmas Cards, It is financially irresponsible to buy gifts for everybody but if I don't... then I feel Cheap and guilty.

Christmas has become the antithesis of itself. It is supposed to be an attitude from the heart of sharing, reflection, and spending time with the ones you love. For those who believe in Christianity it is supposed to be a quiet remembrance of the Biblical Christmas story.

Instead, so many rush around going through the motions out of a sense of duty. They want to appear as though they have the Christmas spirit but instead are just mindlessly complying with all the demands and obligations that bombard us from every direction.

I love Christ, I love my husband, our children, our family and friends and I love spending time with them. But the fake “cheer” the hype, the buy buy buy mentality just makes me feel... BLAH humbug!

Mary's Dream
I had a dream, Joseph.
I don’t understand it, but I think it was about a birthday celebration for our son.
The people in my dream had been preparing for about six weeks.
They had decorated the house and bought new clothes.
They’d gone shopping many times and bought many elaborate gifts.
It was peculiar, though, because the presents weren’t for our son.
They wrapped them in beautiful paper and stacked them under a tree.
Yes, a tree, Joseph, right inside their homes! They’d decorated the tree with sparkling ornaments.
There was a figure like an angel on the top of the tree.
Everyone was laughing and happy.
They gave the gifts to each other, Joseph, not to our son.
I don’t think they even knew him.
They never mentioned his name.
I had the strangest feeling that, if our Jesus had gone to this celebration he would have been intruding.
How sad for someone not to be wanted at his own birthday party!
I’m glad it was only a dream. How terrible Joseph, if it had been real!’
~Author Unknown