ALL THAT NOISE

I often find it difficult to get into the so-called ‘spirit’ of Christmas or the ‘Holidays’ as they are now called. Social media and the press, fortified by advertising revenue all in the need to sell, generate the holiday excitement. It seems to me that something is missing in all this hoopla, we are leaving out something important.

As a child, I remember two very important events that occurred. One was the religious aspect and how it took over and owned the holiday, after all, Christmas or Hanukkah was religion driven, it was the reason for the season as the saying goes. Then there was the other event, the second reason for importance, children. Children were the recipient of the magic and glow of the season, every child dreamed from a Sear’s catalog and prayed for the dream to come true on Christmas morning.

Yet with even that, another ingredient is the gift of love, it is forgotten and trampled on sometimes. We lose track of where we step, what we are doing why there is a holiday. We greet the season with dread because of the things we need to do, the rush to cram as much into a limited time period as possible. We complain about the cards we need to send, the shopping we need to do, those on the shopping list increasing every year and the very noble idea of gifting people who are getting paid for their jobs with additional gifting.

Recently I visited a home for people with disabilities, people who consciously don’t know or understand the concept or spirit of the holidays. To them, the holiday period is one that disrupts their routine and puts them at a certain risk as people who are their caretakers leave for the holidays rather than being with them to get through their day. Often the staff put their own celebrations on hold, depriving their families of all the holiday spirit there is supposed to be. Except for these exceptional people who do the caretaking, we forget those they serve, not because we want to, but because we are overwhelmed sometimes.

I wish we could just give the holidays back to the children, have a family gathering filled with love, and try to put less pressure on ourselves. The greatest gift is the God-given gift of love.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!