Remembering the Things that Matter Most at Christmastime
November 21st 2006 07:39
As we get into the Christmas season, a couple basic principles have to be examined.
First and foremost is, what matters most? It’s a message where numerous TV shows, movies, and books have tried to hammer home. Christmas, we’re told, is not about the amount of presents you get, but about the love of family and friends. It’s about peace on Earth and the birth of the King.
As hard as popular media has tried—perhaps due to the insincerity of their message, given that they’re making a tear-jerking Christmas special so you’ll watch the commercials that come bundled with it—we continue to commercialize Christmas.
At the end of the day, it really isn’t about the stuff, and it’s not about the money. That’s not what matters. Ask anyone who has lost a beloved family member. The first Christmas without that family member is often painful. What are they missing? The presents? Or the presence of their family member?
Obviously, it’s the latter. In the end, what we miss are the people we share Christmas with. In America today, we’re more of a mobile society than ever. Most of us have family members strewn about the fruited plain and at this time of the year, it’s the people we miss.
You can buy all the presents in the world. You can max your credit cards, and you’re still not going to give the people what they want and need. What the people you care about most really want from you is you.
As an adult, I look back on Christmases in my life, and I only remember what I got for two Christmases. When I was six or seven, I got a cheap little toy set that my paternal grandfather had taken away for fear I’d poke my eye out. Then, I remember my dad warning us kids that we wouldn’t have much in ’91. That year, I got a slinky and a couple other cheap little toys and I loved my slinky, and I loved those little toys.
If we understand it, the Christmas gifts we buy are nothing more than tokens of love. When I opened that present and saw a slinky, I knew my parents cared. Through the years, whether I had a big garbage bag full or just two or three presents, the thing that’s abided long after the presents are history is the love and thought that went behind the gift. And it’s not the price tag that really matters, but the love.
Some people never had that type of Christmas, so they decide they want to give their kids what they never had and buy hundreds of toys to make up for the want they had as a child. But our greatest want and need is not for things, but for love.
This may seem somewhat off-topic for the normal discussion of this bargain blog, but it isn’t. The best understanding of Christmas Bargains has to begin with an understanding of what matters most. People are more important than things, and love matters more than possessions. The old saying’s true, the best things in life are free, and they’re the best bargains of them all.
First and foremost is, what matters most? It’s a message where numerous TV shows, movies, and books have tried to hammer home. Christmas, we’re told, is not about the amount of presents you get, but about the love of family and friends. It’s about peace on Earth and the birth of the King.
As hard as popular media has tried—perhaps due to the insincerity of their message, given that they’re making a tear-jerking Christmas special so you’ll watch the commercials that come bundled with it—we continue to commercialize Christmas.
At the end of the day, it really isn’t about the stuff, and it’s not about the money. That’s not what matters. Ask anyone who has lost a beloved family member. The first Christmas without that family member is often painful. What are they missing? The presents? Or the presence of their family member?
Obviously, it’s the latter. In the end, what we miss are the people we share Christmas with. In America today, we’re more of a mobile society than ever. Most of us have family members strewn about the fruited plain and at this time of the year, it’s the people we miss.
You can buy all the presents in the world. You can max your credit cards, and you’re still not going to give the people what they want and need. What the people you care about most really want from you is you.
As an adult, I look back on Christmases in my life, and I only remember what I got for two Christmases. When I was six or seven, I got a cheap little toy set that my paternal grandfather had taken away for fear I’d poke my eye out. Then, I remember my dad warning us kids that we wouldn’t have much in ’91. That year, I got a slinky and a couple other cheap little toys and I loved my slinky, and I loved those little toys.
If we understand it, the Christmas gifts we buy are nothing more than tokens of love. When I opened that present and saw a slinky, I knew my parents cared. Through the years, whether I had a big garbage bag full or just two or three presents, the thing that’s abided long after the presents are history is the love and thought that went behind the gift. And it’s not the price tag that really matters, but the love.
Some people never had that type of Christmas, so they decide they want to give their kids what they never had and buy hundreds of toys to make up for the want they had as a child. But our greatest want and need is not for things, but for love.
This may seem somewhat off-topic for the normal discussion of this bargain blog, but it isn’t. The best understanding of Christmas Bargains has to begin with an understanding of what matters most. People are more important than things, and love matters more than possessions. The old saying’s true, the best things in life are free, and they’re the best bargains of them all.
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Comment by Theresa
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Penny Smart
some of the same topics & ideas I am, but each of us with our own unique perspective.
I enjoyed reading your posts, and will be back