The Joys of Christmas!

Ahh Christmas. Such a joyful affair. They say this season breeds romance, and I can't call them liars. It's the hap-happiest time of the year! Red and gold packages under the tree, big bows adorning them, lights glistening in the stillness of the night... Yet, I feel... guilty?

Okay. Christmas. What is it? A) a commercial holiday where the biggest icon is a fat man in a red suit with miniature people who build toys so he can go around the whole world in one night to deliver them? B) a cash-in for huge toy marts and business men alike who use the whimsical mood of the season to persuade people to come buy the newest Nintendo DS? Or C) the celebration of the birth of the King of all Kings, Jesus Christ?

If you answered all of the above, I would hazard a guess that you would be correct-a-mundo! How did such a jovial day where a bright star in the sky led people and animals, all troubled in their lives, to see the birth of our Jesus Christ get twisted into a day where lists or materialistic desires were mailed to the North Pole?

Now, I am definitely not saying that I am immune to the urge to know whats in the boxes on December 25. I am, just as I'm sure you are, excited to see what Santa brought me. But maybe, as Ebeneezer Scrooge, The Grinch and Fred Flinstone learn, just maybe, Christmas means a little bit more.

Dr. Seuss seemed to grasp that idea. Why can't we?

So have fun with your new computers (hey, I got one too!), cell phones, iPods, clothes and other gifts you were ecstatic to open! But maybe, next time you press the power button or pull on your Lululemon hoodie, think about the person who bought it. Think about how much that person means to you. Or, if it was a secret Santa gift or something, just be thankful that you have friends or people around you who are willing and able to participate in such a fun activity.

Now that I've said my piece, say YOUR piece! In the comments, say your favorite part about Christmas, your LEAST favorite part about Christmas, the best gift you've gotten, the best gift you've given, your favorite memory anything that will remind me that maybe it's not all about the boxes and bows and what's inside and what it means to us.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Or happy Hannekah...
Or Happy Kwanza...
Any others?