The Cost To Be Holy
It’s that time of year again. The two months of the year that people around the world try to be as ‘holy’ as possible. Yes, that’s right; the holiday season is upon us, again. For at least the last two months retailers have been advertising how they can help you have the best holiday ever. Claims of making your holiday cheaper or giving you more for your holiday pummel through our radios and televisions giving us pause to ponder where to go and what to do.
As a little girl, I remember watching the seasonal animated movie How The Grinch Stole Christmas. This heart warming tale endeared me to the thought of what holidays should be about. Even after the mean ogre came in and stole the presents, decorations and food, the Who’s were still able to come together with a song in their hearts and embrace the one thing that truly matters ~ each other. It was this that moved Grinch to return everything and join the festivities.
Being a fan of Jimmy Stewart, I am well acquainted with his movie It’s A Wonderful Life. Here a man who, believing he has just lost everything because he lost a large sum of money, wants to end his life. In comes an angel to help hom realize that what matters most isn’t the material possessions and money we accumulate, it is actually friends and loved ones we hold dear.
years ago the holiday season began (in the US) with Thanksgiving Day. The Thanksgiving Day parade ushered in Santa Clause and the start of the Christmas season. The day after (aka Black Friday) would be the first day you could purchase specific Christmas items. These days, Santa Clause comes to town during Columbus Day parades in October after retailers begin selling Christmas lights during the summer.
There is always a frenzy each year to sell more, to buy more. Then by mid January the frenzy turns into an uproar beginning with complaints of how much was spent for the holidays. The gifts, the food, the charitable donations; everything adds up to spending way too much. o, why do it? Every year I hear people say that you can’t have Christmas without ‘stuff’. I did some checking.
There are three main winter holidays ~ Chanuka, Christmas and Kwanzaa. Chanukah has been celebrated for a few thousand years and is to celebrate the miracle of the oil lasting eight days when there was only enough for one day during the restoration of the Temple. Gift giving did not enter this festival till modern times as the Jewish children were jealous of the presents the other children received for Christmas.
Christmas came about a lot later and was added into the celebration of winter solstice and yule. This is when gifts were given to the gods to pay homage for the season. Christians incorporated their ‘religious’ ideas into the celebration to be able to maintain honoring this holiday. Over-indulgence came with the package.
Kwanzaa is the newest member of the winter holidays only being created in 1966. this holiday was designed for gift giving. However, the intent was for the person to make or create a specific gift for its recipient.
I am not knocking any of these holidays. however, if the true intent or meaning of a special day is lost or forgotten or it brings about so much stress and strife, why continue? From my studies of these holidays, including yule/winter solstice, I find no place where followers are encouraged to over-indulge, spend too much, neglect to pay bills and go further into debt.
Another aspect of this holy time that bothers me is charitable contributions. I am not against giving to charities or helping those less fortunate. What bothers me is that people seem to only feel the need to be charitable two months out of the year. I also add that it is the last two months of the year. this, in my opinion, is so they can claim it on the income taxes in April. Needy people are needy 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days a year.
It is not my desire to keep folks from celebrating. Nor do I want to sway you to celebrate certain holidays. I firmly believe that ALL people should be remembered ALL year long and not just for two months. If you are only going to remember someone at one time during the year and pay no regard for them the rest of the time, what kind of message does that send about you and your sincerity? Holiness should not put you into debt and generosity should be your theme every day of the year.
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