The Christmas Commercial
It's about this time where I look around at all the store displays of
clothes, toys and other odds and ends, mentally making my wish list -
what CD's, movies, electronics and action figures I want to add to my
small, yet growing, collection. Then, after leaving the crowded malls,
I drive home on the Queensway, where it's cars bumper to bumper as far
as the eye can see.
Later, while trying to take a breather, I slowly make my way around the
block, admiring all the light arrangements on each house, until I come
to a front yard with a nativity scene covered in snow - I stop in my
tracks, and ask myself. "Is this what the Christmas season has become?
Greedy people always wanting more? Malls filled with angry people
rushing to get their stuff and get out? Clothing and toy companies
bombarding TV watchers with 'need to have' products? Competitions of
'who has the best light display? Is that what the most celebrated
holiday is to people now?"
I think Lucy said it best when she said, "Look Charlie Brown, we all
know Christmas is just a bunch of commercial racket" and it's true.
People have lost the true purpose of this season.
Oh yes, they see it on the thousands of Christmas TV Specials that are
playing, but does it really mean anything to them? And if it does, is
it lost with the next half hour special of Santa Claus delivering
presents to good girls and boys?
Christmas isn't about a jolly fat man dressed in red and eight to nine
flying reindeer, nor is it about carols sung at senior homes and
hospitals. It's not about roasted turkeys with stuffing or even about
family, friends and the exchange of loving gifts in front of a fire
place and Christmas tree.
Two thousand years ago, angels proclaimed the arrival of the Saviour of
the world. They sang of glorifying God to some lowly shepherds who were
looked down upon by society. Those shepherds found the new born baby
wrapped in strips of simple rags in an animal stable.
The birth of Jesus Christ in the town of Bethlehem during the chaos of
a Roman Census. I imagine trying to find a room at that time was much
harder than hunting down a 'Tickle Me Elmo' or those stupid talking
Ferbies. The significance of this holiday has been swallowed up by the
hustle and bustle of a modern commercialized holiday that Halmark and
Walmart, Sears and Suzy Shier's, the city bus, and Toys R Us profit
from.
With all this rattling around in my mind, I look at my surroundings
again and all the Christmas cheer looks grim. The store displays no
longer are appealing to my eye, my wish list seems obsolete and
vanishes from my mind, and the coloured lights lose their sparkle.
There's an ache in my heart that makes me wish I could lift this mask
of a false Christmas from people's minds and have them truly be happy;
but sadly, I know I alone could never do that. It's not in my power to
make everyone believe what I want them to believe. Christmas will
continue to be a 'commercial racket' for them until they see for
themselves the truth of their sinful predicament. That they need Christ
in their lives to give it meaning and to bring out the true meaning of
Christmas - so much more than a thirty minute television special can
ever do.
Until then, people will continue to live out their lives the way they
think they should, because it's "right for them". I want to change them
and it hurts me to say it, but I can't do a blasted thing about it
because I wouldn't be listened to. I'm just a goodie-two-shoes
Christian that is too pushy about age old beliefs that are not relative
any more.
Sometimes I wonder why I bother. It seems sometimes completely
hopeless, but then I can't give up on them because giving up isn't my
job. Telling them is and I will tell them until they won't listen
anymore, or that they'll listen and change. In the end, it's been worth
while.
I look forward to a Christmas where there is no rushing around to grab
those last minute gifts, but we'll all be celebrating what it's all
about - the birth of the Saviour of all mandkind.