The way is clear for Christmas celebrations

And we’re off!

Thanksgiving is now in the rearview mirror and Christmas is dead ahead. Turkey sandwiches and leftover pumpkin pie are fueling shopping sprees this weekend. Yesterday was Black Friday, today is Small Business Saturday, and Monday is Cyber Monday – three days designed to separate you from your hard-earned cash.

It’s not all bad; in fact, it’s usually a good thing. Saving money on things you’re going to buy anyway is always beneficial. The problem is, many people will go into debt to buy gifts and things they cannot afford. If you have to use a credit card (not to be mistaken with a debit card that comes directly out of your bank account), then you’re not really saving any money at all. With the interest paid on a credit card, you’ll actually spend more on those super sales than you would have if you paid cash up front. The worst part is the extra money you spend on interest goes to the lender (bank), not the merchant you wish to support. Cash is the only thing that makes a sale real savings.

I love Christmastime but I absolutely hate the commercialism that has consumed it. This is the season of giving; a season inspired by God giving us the ultimate gift – his son Jesus Christ who was sent to save us from our sins and to bridge the gap between humanity and heaven. Shifting the focus to gifts and gift-giving is to miss the mark.

I’ve always believed that when you give someone a gift it should be thoughtful and meaningful. It’s a waste of time and money to buy them something that will only be in a garage sale next summer. I don’t know how many times my parents bought Christmas gifts for me – and I in turn for my children – only to see them discarded a few days or weeks later. It’s bound to happen. We’ve all done it and had it done to us.

One of the shifts we’ve been making in our family is to move away from toys and trinkets and to give experiences and adventures. Memories last a lot longer and hold deeper meaning. Experiences can include things like an escape room, ax throwing, museums, tandem skydiving, scuba lessons, cruises, camping at a state park, golfing, concerts, sporting events, deep sea fishing excursions, and so on.

These are the kinds of gifts that not only create extraordinary memories, but they create closer bonds and have an intrinsic value that doesn’t diminish over time. You get to interact with your loved ones rather than watching them huddle around a screen and miss the great joys of living.

Photographing these adventures and then creating a photo album or photo book is a way of preserving those memories in a tangible form that can be shared for generations. It’s personal and powerful and there are no batteries required.

As the years pass and you look back at your life, you’re going to recall fondly the things you did, not the things you got. Most of the time I can’t recall who gave me what gift or what gift I gave to someone. I do recall that last year my brother gave my family an escape room experience and that was a lot of fun. It was a shared experience that we all enjoyed together. Please don’t ask me what gifts he bought me before that, because I couldn’t tell you.

But here I am talking about gifts when that’s really not the focus of the season. Sunday is the first day of Advent. It’s something I admittedly never paid a lot of attention to when I was younger but have always enjoyed at church. Another thing I’ve always enjoyed are Christmas plays and concerts. When we first moved here, my family participated in Christmas plays at our church, First Colony Church of Christ.

The church hasn’t done a play in years and we really miss it. That was a shared Christmas experience that also gave joy and pleasure to others. It also kept the focus on the real reason for the season. I hope that maybe next year we will return to that tradition. That was much more memorable and enjoyable than watching holiday specials on TV.

Now that we have given thanks and moved beyond our turkey dinners, lets grasp the joy and hope of a life well lived and a life eternal as we prepare for Christmas.

Joe Southern is managing editor of the Wharton Journal-Spectator and the East Bernard Express. He can be reached at news@journal-spectator.com.