Elves are chasing goblins and ghouls out of town. Fat men are donning red and white suits with fake beards. Not even a week after Halloween and stores are already flooded with red and green cheer: fake snow-flakes dangle from the ceiling and cardboard bells appear suspended in mid-chime. It looks like Christmas came early, folks.
“Holiday cheer” now not only subsumes Thanksgiving, it has swallowed up Halloween as well. Where will it end? In a few short years we could be caroling on the Fourth of July.
Does anybody even feel the “Christmas spirit” anymore, or is it just a mad rush to fulfill our sense of consumer obligation? Holiday spirit is now represented by jingles and slogans and meaningless words like “jolly.” While advertisers play on our sense of nostalgia for some mythical time that was simpler and more innocent, we neglect the true spirit of the season which is meant to be about selfless giving, not quantifying love in the form of presents. Call me idealistic or old-fashioned, but elbowing each other out of the way in some over-crowded mall is not my idea of holiday cheer.
Not only is the consumerist depiction of the holiday season demeaning to anyone who still considers this a sacred experience, it is alienating to the remaining percentage of the American population that does not celebrate Christmas. And for that even larger percentage of Americans who do identify as Christian, but do not have the means to keep up with the increasing pressure of what we consider adequate gift-giving, Christmas is more and more the season of stress.
Regardless of economic background or religious affiliation, most of us can agree that as the days grow shorter, darker and colder, people need to be reminded of the warmth and goodness that resides within us. This is the reason we draw together, buoyed by faith in tradition and human connections. The light from Christmas trees and menorahs is not a random relic of some obscure ritual. It symbolizes the need to create our own metaphoric light in the darkest season of the year.
The season of giving has become the season of getting as we allow big business to define our idea of tradition. Our society is a lot more divided than most of us would like to admit, with the lines between the rich and poor becoming starker and people still unable to connect across religions.
With no end to this problem in sight, I will refrain from regurgitating some old cliché like “love your neighbor” or “give your family hugs instead of gifts.” All I can ask is that in the spirit of hope and compassion we should do what may be the most generous thing: step off this crazy merry-go-round and take a moment to examine what really matters to us. If consumerism truly is your thing, you are in the right place, so go ahead and do your dance. But if that is not what you really want, take the time to find out what real giving means to you this year.