This Year, Give Something Real

Christmas is not as important to me, as I imagine it may be to some of you. Each year, understanding why we celebrate this holiday becomes more obscured under the weight of superficiality and materialism. It is safe to say that as a cultural whole we are obsessed with the giving and receiving associated with years end. Each year a new list of hot holiday buys is wheeled out for our consumption. Trinkets, baubles, gadgets, and random chunks of plastic dance merrily around our imaginations like so many sugar plums. We sit star struck, turning the pages of catalogs, surfing through e-storefronts, trying to find that perfect gift. Meanwhile, the true essence of the season is lost.

The humble simplicity of this cross-cultural, seasonal ritual seems to have been replaced by "the spirit of giving," which in turn has been transformed into something more akin to "the spirit of getting." We carefully tabulate who has given us what, so as not to be at a loss when it comes time to indulge in the grand exchange. We ask each other "What would you like this year?" to be certain no mistakes are made in the offering. While others find it easier to forgo actual presents all together, opting to hand out cold cash.

Whether we are Christian, and believe that December 25th heralds the coming of the Son; ...or Pagan, believing that December 22nd marks the return of the Sun; this is traditionally the time of year when we set aside our differences, and celebrate our blessings. Time spent with our loved ones; family and friends. Spreading cheer, merry making in hopeful anticipation of the promise of the coming of a new dawn, when the cycle of renewal will again smile wide in open embrace, inviting each of us to follow suit, offering encouragement and the opportunity for growth.

At the risk of sounding like a Scrooge, the whole thing feels empty to me, as if something has been lost in the translation. I want so badly to rekindle the holiday spirit that as a child, delighted my every fiber, and yet, this has become a daunting and nearly impossible task. My friends regale me with their tales of Black Friday, and how they stood in line outside Best Buy, at 3 in the morning, braving the freezing temperatures just to be able to land their grubby mitts on some priced-to-move chunk of junk that they later auctioned on e-bay... and I sit there thinking "WTF is wrong with you people?"

This should not be considered normal! In fact, there are many societies in which obsession with material goods would be considered destructively aberrant behavior. And if you think for one minute that I am exaggerating and blowing this out of proportion, please take a moment and recall the number of times since Thanksgiving day that you've heard "the amount of money holiday shoppers are spending this year, in relation to last year blah blah blah...." mentioned. Through the newspaper, public radio, CNN, anywhere you get your "news," it is plain to see that not only are we culturally captivated by spending copious quantities of cash come December, but our economy is largely dependent upon it.

This is how we roll, it's what we do. Nothing says "I love you, thanks for being a part of my life," like handing someone a generic debit card. Look, I'm not saying that giving is bad, and we should abstain, but rather, if you feel like giving someone a gift this year, try and put a little of yourself into it. Give of your time, your help, your love. Give a friend one of your belongings, an object they have admired during past visits. The definitive idea behind a true gift is that a great deal of thoughtfulness and personal sacrifice goes into the choosing, creating, and preparing. There are many of us out here who understand the value of this approach, and our numbers are growing. So if your secret Santa at work slips you a homemade surprise, please realize how blessed you are that someone cared enough to take the time to actually give you a real gift!