Commercialization

In the story A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Tiny Tim concludes with the statement, "God bless us, everyone!"

This little boy's plea for God to bless all people seems to be lost on society today. God is no longer remembered at this celebration of the birth of His Son. Christ is being taken out of CHRISTmas, and replaced by the commercialized aspect of gifts and Santa Claus.

Now, I'm not saying that Santa Claus should be removed from Christmas. I believe that he plays an important role in helping us to revel in the magic of the season. Neither am I saying that everyone everywhere should be Christian. I understand that people have different believes, and I respect them. But you don't see people taking Jehovah out of Chanukah, or Allah out of Ramadan. I don't think that anyone should take the religious aspect out of any holiday regardless of what religion is being celebrated!

I remember growing up and saying Merry Christmas to friends and teachers at school. I remember having to explain to one of my friends what Christmas was all about, but he had no problems with the celebration of such a holiday. As I grew older and entered High School I was told that we could no longer call the Christmas Assembly the Christmas Assembly. The name was too discriminatory, or so they said. But I never heard someone of a different nationality make the complaint! Regardless of where it came from we now had our Wassail Concert, signifying the celebration of Christmas without stating it for what it was. Here was an example of how Christ was being pushed to the wayside, even at the celebration of His birth.

As I look back at my experiences where commercialization has pushed religion to the backseat, I can't help but think that we should be doing something to allow religion to reenter the scene. Since Christmas just took place, that's really what is fresh in my mind. It's a celebration of His birth, and though gifts may be given, and Santa Claus may be coming, we can't forget why we are celebrating. I revised the words to the poem "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" to try and signify this,

'Twas the Week Christ Reentered Christmas

‘Twas the week before Christmas, when all through the town

Every person was shopping; they had gifts to be found.

At the mall each child anxiously waits for their turn

To sit upon Santa so that he might learn

All about the gifts that they wanted to receive:

Balls, trains, and other things, but one struggled to believe.

I looked on in wonderment as this little boy paused,

A kid not wanting a gift, now what was the cause?

So I bent down and asked, “What’s up little guy?”

And awaited my answer as he turned with a sigh.

“I can’t just ask him for what I’m wishing for.

You see,” said he, “I was taught that this season’s about a little bit more.

“I was told that though people like to put on a show,

Christmas is much more than bows, ribbons, or mistletoe.

My parents taught me that it’s really about a Man,

One who came down to earth, died, but lives again.

“It’s at this most festive time of the year,

That we can celebrate the birth of this Man, so dear.

His name is Jesus Christ, and he came down to earth

Where angels, to shepherds, heralded his birth.

“He was born of a virgin, Mary was her name,

Who had travelled to Bethlehem, a city of great fame.

It was here she had come, with her husband to be counted,

They had travelled from Galilee, on a donkey she had mounted.

“But despite this hard travel things were still okay,

And they were optimistic about the place they would stay.

But in finding a room at the Inn, they weren’t able,

So they were forced to lodge in a crude stable.

“It was here, long ago, that Jesus was born

Where He slept in a manger on the first Christmas morn.

Shepherds had come to see the birth of this King,

And Wise men came, three gifts they did bring.

“They honoured this Man, a true Son of God,

For what He would do they came, and His name they did laud.”

“And what did He do?” I asked, with a bit of sneer,

I doubted he knew, he didn’t look as old as 10 years,

Yet despite my doubt, the boy answered my query

And explained how this man had borne sin till He was weary.

“Then this Man among Men, the Son of God in the flesh,

Died on the cross so that one day I’d have my wish.

“You see mister,” he said without hesitation,

“That Man, Jesus Christ, died so I could overcome my frustration.

I told you I learned this from my dad and my mom,

Well that was before a desperate thief did come.

“He came to my house looking for jewels and cash

And because of a sound outside he did something rash.

He tried to leave in a hurry, and on the way out

He shot my parents dead, of that there was no doubt.

“And that’s my frustration, that they’re not here you see,

And my wish to be with them Santa just can’t give me.

It’s only through Christ that I can see my folks again,

And so it’s His birth I celebrate as we enter this season.

“It’s because of Christ that we celebrate Christmas,

And Santa just can’t compare, no matter what he does.

But I best be on my way, but thanks for that talk,

Have a Merry Christmas!” and with that, off he walked.

With a tear in my eye I turned back to look

At the children with Santa asking for a game or a book.

I wished that they understood what I had just been taught

That the reason for Christmas just couldn’t be bought.

I marveled that a boy who wasn’t yet ten,

Could understand and then teach to men,

A message that we should all really know,

That it’s for Christ we celebrate, even amidst all this snow.

Now let us follow his counsel to let Christ reenter Christmas for us.

And so, let's allow religion to again be a part of the celebrations we have so that we too might utter the plea for "God [to] bless us, everyone".

Regret

In the book White Oleander, by Janet Fitch, a very interesting comment is made by one of the characters on the subject of regretting the past. The comment goes as follows,

"You ask me about regret? Let me tell you a few things about regret, my darling. There is no end to it. You cannot find the beginning of the chain that brought us from there to here. Should you regret the whole chain, and the air in between, or each link separately, as if you could uncouple them? Do you regret the beginning, that ended so badly, or just the ending itself?"

Looking back at my life, I can definitely remember things I would say that I regret. As a kid, I wasn't always the most well behaved. But as the youngest of five kids, I quickly learned to play with people's heart strings so that I wouldn't end up getting into too much trouble. I can't even begin to count how many times I had done something against my siblings (either got in a fight with them, or even when I just did something against them in spite) and then going up to them, saying, with puppy-dog-eyes, "I forgive you, do you forgive me?" I would then proceed to stare at my feet in supposed penitence. That got me out of a lot of tight situations, but I've regretted it since.

Then there was that time in elementary school. There was this one guy who really liked to push my buttons. One day, when we were playing basketball, he went to "block" my shot. However, his hand never went much higher than my elbow as he slapped my arm, not the ball. I kind of let my anger get away from me and I began to walk after him with one thought in my mind, I was going to stop this once and for all. Two of my friends had to hold me back to stop me from doing anything stupid. Sure he stopped bugging me, but I regret letting my emotions rule me rather than the other way around.

Another couple instances that really stand out in my mind are from when I was on my mission for my church. There I was, devoting my time to teach others about God, Jesus Christ, and the joy that come into their lives by following their gospel, but I didn't talk to everyone. There were times that I had seen a man three times in one day and found excuses not to talk to him. I regretted that when I later seeing that same individual accepting the message we shared by different missionaries after I had been transferred to a different area.

As reflect on these experiences and all that regret is an does, I'd have to say that regret helps us to become aware of our priorities. However, those feelings of regret are definitely not meant to be harboured in our hearts to fester and grow. When we regret things in the past it is in order to understand what not to do in the future. From the regret of my childhood I've learned that I never want to add to a person's inner turmoil. It is a priority for me to not force someone to do something out of guilt, or for any other reason. From my regret in elementary school I've learned that I don't want to be ruled by my passions. It is a priority for me to decide how I act with a collected mind, striving for the best course of action based on all of my understanding, not just the understanding of how I feel. From the regret of my missionary service I've learned that I can't let responsibilities I have slip by the way side. It is a priority for me to live by my word, to have integrity in all that I do and say. And now that I understand those things I can let go of those regrets and strive not to regret similar experiences in the future.

So I guess what I'm saying is that regret is merely a temporary thing. If we allow it to fester, it becomes something that "there is no end to". So what priorities have your regrets helped you to realize?