8:07 pm Uncategorized
So much for the ghosts of Christmas past …
I have mixed feelings about Christmas these days. My main problem, and I know I’m not alone, is the blatant commercialism and excessive pressure to “spend, spend, spend”. The temptation to prove my love with gifts is overwhelming!
Does anybody else feel like it is just spending for the sake of spending?! Let’s face it, we live in the Lucky Country (even with a global financial crisis), and many of us are blessed to be able to buy whatever we need or even want. It seems such a waste to give and receive presents that will only end up collecting dust, or in a landfill …
My children have never had to go without, unlike my own childhood. But many is the time I have caved into that Christmas pressure and bought them toys and gifts which I *know* they don’t need, and which will be forgotten within days or even hours!
There are so many people in the world who don’t even have access to clean water or food, that it seems greedy and wasteful!
I can’t help feeling that I would rather buy a gift for my loved ones and friends for no particular reason, except that I have seen something that I know they will really enjoy. That to me seems a much better idea than struggling to come up with the “perfect” present on 25 December.
But would I?!
I absolutely agree.
I just read about a lady who only ever gave her husband one present, and it was a donation to the charity of his choice. He’d carefully choose a different one each year and it became a fun family tradition.
But for us there has always been the pressure and hassle of coming up with gifts for several members of the extended family!
We have large family gatherings where everybody gets exactly one present. At least that is the way it is supposed to work. We have a batch of 4 new great grandchildren and they are buried under stuff. My own first grandchild is not even 1 yet and he already has more than he can play with.
I’ve just been reading about a book titled Scroogenomics. It is about Christmas and how it destroys value. The author says we use money we don’t have to buy things that the recipients don’t really want. After men get to a certain age they get buried under socks and hankies. I had to put a stop to this recently by releasing a list. It covered books, films, music and tools. Now at least I get something I was looking forward to. Now everyone in the family releases their desire list in emails that can be passed around.
But I think that what most people want is a bit more non-material. One of the best things about our family gatherings is that we just sit around and talk to each other. Talking and listening to someone today is a radical and unexpected act.
But if we don’t buy masses of stuff we are traitors to the economy and our civilisation will slide into ruin. I guess you just have to know where your priorities lie.
Posted by Ken Rolph, on December 17th, 2009, at 8:24 am. #.
“Scroogenomics” sounds great – I am definitely going to have to read that one!!!
Posted by Webmaster, on December 18th, 2009, at 1:58 pm. #.
Ah, just what I’ve been thinking myself! It seems so wrong to be just “spending” money because we are told by the masses we should…
Yet I feel the same, when I don’t buy something, I feel like a scrooge especially when others around me are opening the large presents given by others.
I don’t know the solution- but I only have a week or so to find it.
What would Jesus do? I wonder.
You know, I would be happy (truly) just to be able to share a meal with friends and family. The expectations of gifts is a pressure to me, – not children but the adults.
Posted by a Victorian subscriber, on December 15th, 2009, at 3:43 pm. #.