Now I'm sure it's nice to recieve presents, I mean who wouldn't like to recieve nice things from people right?... But why Christmas presents... Why do we do it?... Just because some Saint that lived in Turkey during the 3rd century gave gifts to the poor whom has now been overglorified into some ginormous tub of lard taht rides a sleigh guided by magical reindeers and give presents to "good" kids by sliding down chimneys and filling stockings that hang over fireplaces with random crap... And it has been overexploited as a commercial niche to make people spend money and buy useless trinkets to give each other during the "Festive Season"...
Christmas is the time when our Saviour was born into our messed up world to begin living his perfect life which was to be used to pay for our sins. Sure 3 wise men came and gave gifts to him, of gold, frankincense and myrrh... But these where offerings of worship to the Saviour of the World. So that has nothing to do with our "tradition" of gift giving and Christmas... Now I'm not saying I hate Christmas... but... What is our purpose for celebrating Christmas... When we gather around the table for our "Christmas Feast" what are we REALLY celebrating? Where are our hearts when we do that? What is the reason for having a christmas tree in your house and placing presents around its feet? Sure having 2-3 days of holidays is nice... but... why? Does any of it celebrate the real significance of Christmas? Does any of it remind us of the real significance of Christmas? I'm not so sure the answer is a clear yes...
This came to mind as I was thinking of what I was to buy for my family for christmas... seeing how i have exactly 1 month left... and I am obliged to buy presents just to at least save face... Yet Christmas presents have no meaning to me beyond supposably showing "love and generosity" to family members... but true love and generosity is not displayed through dare I say "ritualistic and obligated" seasonal giving nor is it shown through birthday presents... Real love and generosity is shown when you have no obligation to give but you give anyways, when you don't want to love but you love anyway or you see someone in need of care and you go out of your way to provide for it... But giving Christmas presents do not fall into either of these catergories... so I don't see any meaning for it... All I see is an invisible poking stick poking me in the back to buy presents to avoid being shamed... You do not show love by showing that you are willing to spend money on other people by giving useless trinkets... You show love by showing you are willing to help provide for them when they need it most...
But yeah... that's my general... opinion on Christmas... rather than celebrating and pigging out on food and wasting money on useless trinkets... shouldn't we be worshipping and praising and thanking God for sending his son down to this hellhole to save us... Because if you haven't already realised... Without Christmas... there would be no Easter... and without Easter, we would be up the creek without a paddle, to put it in a nice way... And we would have no hope and no life... only death and eternal death would await...
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Hmm, interesting point. For me, giving Christmas presents is a chance for me to express, in gift form, how thankful I am for whoever I'm giving to. Most of the time, any "obligation" I feel is overriden by an actual desire to give them something back, which don't have to just be useless trinkets but can be something useful/has sentimental value and so on.
ReplyDeleteMmm just my two cents :) Christmas is foremost and centrally about Christ, of course, but I also find it a nice time to express my gratitude towards people in my life, since normal day-to-day life can get too hectic for this (which sucks!)
I guess showing gratitude is important... Probably something I don't do quite enough... Or think about quite enough... But I guess what would be real show of gratitude is to spare time out of a hectic schedule to do things for them... but that's ideally what should happen... but I can honestly say I don't do that... I meerly assist in doing things to avoid being a burden... But thats about all I show on a day to day basis...
ReplyDeleteIt just doesn't quite fit to give material as a response to something that is not material... unless it has incredibly sentimental value... which I'm sure there is a limited number of objects that can have that amount of sentimental value... So... You get to a point where you struggle to find meaningful presents that can represent what the other person has given to you... and I am the all or nothing type of person... so... that doesn't help... lol... o well