Christmas stuff!!
Yes, two to three weeks before Halloween Walmart already had replaced the barbecue grills and the hoses with lit-up Christmas trees, and ornaments, and tinsel, and wrapping paper, and wreaths, and poinsettias...
And you know what my first reaction, my first thought was?
It made me smile! It made my eyes happy! It lightened my heart (which is a very great need during this season of name-calling and mud-slinging that we call the presidential election). And with that happy feeling I suddenly had an insight... a realization... a Christmas epiphany:
In years past it annoyed me that the stores put their Christmas stuff out so early. Obviously this holiday is entirely commercial to them; they only want our hard-earned cash—those money-grubbing, hog-like merchandizers who would probably sell their own grandmothers if they only thought you'd pay for them. They lure you in with their sparkling lights, then they wring every last penny from you, and go laughing all the way to the bank. How utterly repugnant!
I understand people's disgust over the commerce of Christmas; I really do.
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| Well, I don't feel this extreme about it! |
But back to my Christmas-in-the stores epiphany: What does any of that commercialism have to do with me?
Nothing!
And why should the retailers' desire or need for a higher profit make me feel frustrated or angry about the time of year I like best?
It shouldn't!
Because I love Christmas! I love the way it sounds, and feels, and looks. I like looking at the trees, and the lights, and the pretty papers, even if I have no intention of buying anything at all.
So, even before Halloween (!) I can go to Wal-mart (and lots of other stores) and feast my eyes on all the pretty, shiny things, and have some happy feels, too. Even in October or November—even though I love Thanksgiving too—I can be more like Fred than like his Uncle Scrooge ...you know, the man who said this:
"I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time...as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of...when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely."
Not only that, but I can be like the repentant Ebeneezer Scrooge himself, and "honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."
And so, if the stores want me to think of Christmas––that kind, giving time––before Halloween (the time of begging your neighbors for candy), then I'm OK with that. And if I see Christmas at Wal-mart before Thanksgiving Day happens, then maybe those cheery, colorful sights can just be one more thing to be thankful for, instead of something to annoy me. Maybe I can let what I see open my shut-up heart just a little earlier, instead of making me shut it more tightly.
So I will let it make me smile, make my eyes happy, and lighten my heart. And I will listen to my Christmas music year-round, and watch A Christmas Carol (almost any version of it), and How the Grinch Stole Christmas! year-round (because they are some of my favorite movies). And I'll take my kids looking at the pretty things too, as soon as they're available for looking at. And maybe it will make me remember to do fun things for and with my family throughout October, November, and December. And I can say, with Fred, that, "although [Christmas] has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!"
Even in October. ;-)
Nothing!
And why should the retailers' desire or need for a higher profit make me feel frustrated or angry about the time of year I like best?
It shouldn't!
Because I love Christmas! I love the way it sounds, and feels, and looks. I like looking at the trees, and the lights, and the pretty papers, even if I have no intention of buying anything at all.
So, even before Halloween (!) I can go to Wal-mart (and lots of other stores) and feast my eyes on all the pretty, shiny things, and have some happy feels, too. Even in October or November—even though I love Thanksgiving too—I can be more like Fred than like his Uncle Scrooge ...you know, the man who said this:
"I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time...as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of...when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely."
Not only that, but I can be like the repentant Ebeneezer Scrooge himself, and "honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."
And so, if the stores want me to think of Christmas––that kind, giving time––before Halloween (the time of begging your neighbors for candy), then I'm OK with that. And if I see Christmas at Wal-mart before Thanksgiving Day happens, then maybe those cheery, colorful sights can just be one more thing to be thankful for, instead of something to annoy me. Maybe I can let what I see open my shut-up heart just a little earlier, instead of making me shut it more tightly.
So I will let it make me smile, make my eyes happy, and lighten my heart. And I will listen to my Christmas music year-round, and watch A Christmas Carol (almost any version of it), and How the Grinch Stole Christmas! year-round (because they are some of my favorite movies). And I'll take my kids looking at the pretty things too, as soon as they're available for looking at. And maybe it will make me remember to do fun things for and with my family throughout October, November, and December. And I can say, with Fred, that, "although [Christmas] has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!"
Even in October. ;-)
3 comments:
This is definitely a time we need something happy to think about. I feel like politics have made this year a year of non-stop stress and I could definitely use something as nice as Christmas right about now. I guess this is how we know you raised me, eh?
And speaking of Christmas just around the corner of Halloween... Mom, we need to get working on our homemade Christmas gifts. we drew names for it HOW long ago? ;3
God bless us; every one!
I just had to get in on the Christmas Carol quotes.
You are quite the powerful speaker, Loralee. It's a wonder you haven't run for Parliament! And I feel the same way, now that I've read this. Thanks for the positive post!
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