Christmas- the good and the bad

[Neil D]

I ran accross this blog on Christmas...And I could identify with a lot of what this girl is writing about.

All I want for Christmas

I hate Christmas. Not in the Scrooge sort of way though. He hated Christmas because he never got into the decorations, or maybe just the cost of the decorations. I hate Christmas for a completely different set of reasons.

On the morally superior side, I hate Christmas because as much as everyone talks about "the true meaning of Christmas", the reality is that it is an excuse for the rich to flaunt their goods and make businesses even richer. It is also an exercise in gluttony and greed. All this is, of course, done with the ever-present help of the Chinese sweatshops that keep the 'made-in-china' decorations coming.

On a more personal note I hate Christmas for the dreaded question. "what do you want for Christmas?" I think I've been asked the question four or five times today. and the truth of the matter is, I want nothing. Nothing that any one could give me is going to make me happier, better adjusted to my society, or (significantly) better off economically. But the question is not about my needs. It is about my wants. Everyone has them. Little things that you have desired for some time without putting too much energy into actually acquiring. Once you acquire this little thing, it will take an honored place in the back of a cupboard or closet where you won't think about it again. I really don't want to have my house cluttered by these sort of things though. So this year, this is want I want. I want you to donate a toy to a needy child. I want you to send money to your nearby homeless shelter. I want you to say something nice about that really annoying person in your life.

And once you've done that, then we can really have a happy Christmas. (but not a merry one because apparently 'merry' isn't the right sort of lingo anymore)

I don't agree with everything that she has written. In fact, I tend to look at Christmas like this comment to her post-

In a year of being negetive, of bad things happening in the world, of self doubt and self criticizm, there is this holiday that promotes joy...it promotes positive wishes toward others... Granted, this may not be enough to overcome the negetivity of everyone's world, but it does cause some readjustment in one perception.

And I would like to expand this thought just a bit...

Just look at the World Affairs forums, the religion forums, the "What SDA believes forum", and see the negitivity in the world. The promotion of philosophys, theorys, and 'so called experience' whose end result is not as good as one would hope... and you can see that we need a hope.....All of the world needs a hope... even within Adventism and Christendom, we need hope...Fortunately, as Ephesians says, 'we have this Hope...'

Despite the commericalization of the year, despite of the hatred and vileness of the human race toward humankind, there persists a hope..... and mankind so desparately needs that hope...

That is the reason why suicides are so many and a few so final [read that as sucessful] during this season, because these people percieve no hope.

That is the reason why we need to promote this holiday season... and actively reach out to others within our sphere of influence. The hope of Jesus Christ...and His redemption...Perhaps if we can lodge that seed of hope in someone's brain, the germination process can begin changing the thinking of a human race...or at least, change the thinking of one person's world within the universe of the human race...

So, you see, there is a reason for Christmas....and it's because "we have this hope......."