northern

It's Christmas time!

I know some of you really hate Christmas.

You don't like the religious aspect.

You don't like the commercial aspect.




I LOVE Christmas!





I'm barely Christian.

(Basically, I feel like I've had no choice but to give up on Christianity due to all the right-wing hate that has become synonomous with the faith).

I've never really celebrated Christmas as a religious holiday.

I think I may have attended a Christmas service once, years ago.

Let's face it, for the majority of people there's nothing religious about Christmas, despite the very name of the holiday.

It's very much a secular, non-religious holiday, much to the chagrin of some.

But let's be real and call it what it is - Christmas.

I'll avoid a rant and just say that doing things like calling a Christmas tree a "Holiday tree" is ridiculous and idiotic.

Or should we start calling Hannukah "Fancy Candle Time" too, just to remove any sense of religion, let alone logic?



As for the commercialism, well, everything is commercial, so a holiday that centres on giving gifts is bound to be very commercial.

If there's a buck to be made, someone's gonna figure out how.

But so what?

I love giving gifts.

These days virtually the only gifts I give are to my mom, and any chance I get to give her something is an opportunity I cherish.

I do give more modest gifts to my sister's three children, though I have yet to meet them. I'm still their uncle.

And I give a very modest gift to my brother.

But you want to know something?

If I could afford it, I'd give even more gifts, to even more people.

People who in some way have touched my life in some way.

Not necessarily in a major way. Maybe it's just one of those people, like some of you here, who simply make me smile when I think of them.

Admittedly, in a few cases I don't even know your real name, let alone where to send a gift, but when I think of someone special, I want to treat them to something.

Is that materialistic?

I suppose that in a way it is. But you know, we use 'things' to express our feelings.

On Valentine's Day, we give flowers to our girlfriend (well, it's been so many years, but that's my hazy memory of it).

The flowers cost money.

If you want to be a cynic and say that we're spending money as a substitute for emotion, so be it.

I'm just not that cynical.

Of course you should tell the person how you feel, whether it's at Christmas, Valentine's, or any other day of the year.

You should always tell people you like that you do like them.

But if it's not a financial strain, why not give them a gift? Or two? Or more?

I sometimes think that the people who complain about materialism are actually complaining about not having much money.

I imagine that if they won the lottery, they would go out and buy a lot of stuff. Expensive stuff. And that'd be the last time you hear them complain about materialism and commercialism.

I do know that I'm being somewhat cynical that way, because I realize that some people who complain about materialism really are quite sincere. And I look forward to seeing them donate their entire lottery winnings to charity.

If I won the lottery, I'd go on a spending spree.

I'd buy a lot of stuff for myself.

I'd buy loads of stuff for my mom.

I'd finally be able to buy things for all the people I care about, just as a way of saying thanks for making my life a little bit better.

And there are a bunch of charities that'll be getting big cheques too.




But I digress.

The point is that Christmas is that chance to show our feelings, our thanks, and if as humans, that means giving gifts, what's the problem?

No one says the gifts have to be expensive. No one says that you have to go into debt to give gifts.

Heck, if you can't afford to give a gift to a friend, at least send them a card.

I love sending Christmas cards too!

And send actual, physical cards when possible. E-cards are cute, but they always strike me as being very impersonal. Yeah, I know, mass produced cards bought in boxes of 30 aren't exactly personal, but I guess it's just that they take a bit more effort than simply typing in a bunch of email addresses.




I'm rambling at this point, so I'll try to wrap things up (no Christmas wrapping pun intended).

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

If you don't celebrate, don't be offended by my attempt at seasonal cheer. Accept it in the spirit it's intended, or ignore it.

I just wish that Christmas were more often, so that people didn't reserve their festive mood for just one day a year.