A couple of days away will be the day we have all been waiting for since the end of Halloween. Bells are ringing, children singing; oh it is indeed a beautiful sight. Snow floats down gently to its place on our tender soil, dying for the winter, but soon to be revisited by the subsequent equinox. On the eve, at the stroke of midnight, as the tale goes, jolly old Saint Nicholas shall come down the chimney in the houses of all the pretty little girls and handsome little boys (assuming they all live in houses with chimneys), bringing gifts, treats, and sweets to reward them for their exceptional behavior throughout the long year. The mood is lighter, everyone praying and rejoicing and celebrating this wonderful season of giving. Alas, I believe it is somewhat getting harder for people to actually figure out what to, you know, give.
As the Christmas holiday has evolved over the years, once being a time solely devoted to praising the baby Lord Jesus, now a hardcore shop-till-you-drop frenzy, based on the existence of some mythical fat man in red, supposedly with an entire platoon of miniature green elves who make his entire batch of Christmas gifts year in and year out, which I frankly find to be complete baloney! (Sorry to burst your bubble children but Santa is fake!) Yet, even now in a time in which every corner of the shops are filled completely with toys and chocolates and cards and whatnot, I believe we are starting to run out of ideas for gifts for our family and friends and the alternative is now MONEY!
Now don’t get me wrong, money is a glorious thing, one of God’s many great inventions upon our humble Earth. You can do loads of things with money. You can buy candy. You can buy toys. You can buy gift cards. You can even buy money with money. And finally, you can buy gifts for those you keep dear to your heart. But that is just it! Yes gifts are still being bought for others, but I believe that this year, more than any to date, has been a year full of cash and gift cards.
Why might I say this you ask? Well, a miracle just occurred in my house recently that I would like to share with you all, a Christmas tale if you must. Every year or so, my classroom teacher does a Kris Kringle or Secret Santa gift exchange in which everyone who so wishes to participate is given another students name, a price range, the promise to keep their lips sealed, and the freedom their imagination pleases. We are to buy a gift, usually within the $15 to $20 price range, for the person whose name we received and place it under our classroom Christmas tree until the last day till Christmas break. We then each take our gift, open it, and enjoy the contents within. For the past 4 or so years, I remember my mother buying books for the person I chose EVERY single year, nothing more. Of course, it is good to read regularly but I really wanted to get something different for my fellow classmates. All of a sudden, this year for Kris Kringle, my mother gave me a Wal-Mart gift card! Unbelievable I thought when I took it from her. There really are such things as miracles!
On the radio, you will hear many stations this time of year playing holiday music to get everyone in that Christmas mood. Another thing you will hear nowadays on these same stations is that they are giving away gifts to all their loyal fans and listeners. But not just any gift! a gift card for this, a thousand dollars for that and iTunes cards for this. Yes folks, money has entered the radio waves. Sure, you can still win the occasional all-inclusive 7-day vacation to the Bahamas or concert tickets to see whatever artist you fancy, but I truly believe that money is becoming a huge factor in the season of giving as it already has in our everyday lives.
Do not believe me? I, a strong believer in drawing a profound image for the recipient of my gifts, have too turned to the money side. For example, for my two friends’ birthday party a while back, I of course made them epic gargantuan cards depicting the true meaning of our everlasting friendships but both times, I added in money and a gift card, respectively.
For Christmas this year, I completely strayed away from the making of a heart-filled drawn card and just gave 5 of my teachers $10 gift cards each from “Dollarama”, to perhaps help them buy some much needed school supplies for their classes. OH MY GOSH, WHAT HAVE I BECOME!!! I might actually end up being one of the beneficiaries of my very own Christmas gift for my teachers. What a nice way to give; its like “give-n-take.”
The holiday season is changing. The way we celebrate, the way we sing and the way we give. It is not necessarily a bad thing for now that people are turning towards more gifts revolving around cash, meaning people can truly enjoy their holidays by buying what they really yearn for instead of having someone say, “Oh, jeez, thanks for this fabulous sweater”, but they really actually hate that sweater you knit just for them.
Angelous.