This Christmas may be less about Gifts and more about Opportunity

Being a single parent, I can really feel the anguish many parents may endure this holiday season when it comes to not having the finances to put anything under the Christmas tree or even have a tree this year but while thinking about that, another thought entered my mind.  What if this event is happening for another reason, what if this is an opportunity for all of us to get back to the real meaning of Christmas.

In a well-written article by Phil Wahba and Martha Sanchez-Avila for Reuters titled Poor struggling, rich spending as Christmas nears, it was reported that “Adriana Garcia won't be buying her family Christmas gifts this year.  The 26-year-old from Huntington Park, California lost her job as a teacher's assistant last year and now works part-time at a Jamba Juice near Los Angeles.  Her husband, a security guard unable to work since hurting his hand three months ago, is not yet getting his disability checks. The couple spends on the basics: food and rent.  Kelly Lenehan, a 40-year-old ultrasound technician and former paparazzo from Los Angeles, lost her job in her new field in early November, and is also planning a low key holiday.”   Like Adriana Garcia and Kelly Lenehan, many Americans will find themselves in the same boat.   Those who have placed so much emphasis on Santa and the whole holiday gift giving season will have to now scramble to help keep the dream of a jolly old elf alive.  For others who have placed less emphasis on old St Nick and more of an accent on sharing and caring, this season offers them a very good opportunity to prove their point.

My fiancée asked me what was Christmas about and why it is celebrated if we cannot give our children presents.  This began me to thinking that somewhere down the line people may have just forgotten why Christmas is such an important day of celebration.   America, we have an opportunity to re-acquaint ourselves with the real meaning of Christmas.  It was and always will only be about the birth of Jesus Christ and our celebration of his sacrifice for us here on earth and within the universe.  It only became about presents and a jolly old elf as an excuse to do something nice for someone else.  Americans never quite felt full when doing something nice was stopping to help another push their car when it broke down or stop by a neighbor when you heard they were ill.  We never quite felt full when we waved at a stranger and smiled at a friend.  The only time we feel good about ourselves is when we give them a gift, if for no other reason than for them to have something tangible to show off what we did.

To me, the spirit of Christmas is not solely a vision of Santa; it is much more than that.  The spirit of Christmas is remembering and celebrating the birth of Jesus, remembering and celebrating the sacrifice he made for us, remembering and celebrating the sacrifice that our parents, grandparents and so many others made on our behalf and mostly remembering that each and every one of us are connected in such a way that a smile from one can spread to another and brighten our existence regardless of how gloomy our world.  Giving gifts on Christmas is a bonus but not the only reason for celebration, the real reason is the only reason your eyes opened on that day.