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.
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