Call me crazy, but I always thought that the Christmas season—which of course revolves around the Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Christ—probably ought to stick to the four weeks before Christmas, and then jingle around until perhaps New Years. This seems reasonable, as that’s about as long as the Advent period runs before Christmas and the recovery runs after.
Call me crazy, but I always thought that the Christmas season—which of course revolves around the Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Christ—probably ought to stick to the four weeks before Christmas, and then jingle around until perhaps New Years. This seems reasonable, as that’s about as long as the Advent period runs before Christmas and the recovery runs after.
But, as I’m sure you notice, the Christmas decorations are rearing their jolly heads earlier and earlier with each passing year. Shopping centers here in lovely northern Virginia began their Christmas season with parking-lot decorations, as it were, at some point in early November. Many stores, however, were into the spirit far before the parking lots were adorned. Since the Temptations card shop (which used to be a Hallmark shop) in Franklin Farm Village Center seems to have quite recently gone out of business, the best judge of this is in the area malls.
I despise malls, but since Apple Computer was so kind as to place their closest store smack in the middle of Tyson’s Corner Mall, a particularly disturbing mall at that, I’ve made several visits since the August purchase of my G4 PowerMac, Nadia. All those scary clothes stores had their Christmas decorations up literally MONTHS ago, in fact many Christmas displays had been up since even before the September 11th tragedy.
Turns out that these monstrosities of laziness (malls) have even picked up an odd new trend called “The Christmas Store”. These began arriving quite a while ago, and I have yet to determine if they remain year-round, but it would seem they’re in EVERY FREAKIN MALL.
What’s my point? Well I’ve always been a bit miffed by the way we string this one holiday out so long for some reason. I’ve never quite put my finger on it, but I know there’s something distasteful about the concept of a year-round Christmas. It almost neutralises the relevancy of the holiday I guess. For example, ice cream is delicious! But imagine having it every day, after all three meals, for five years. Eventually ice cream isn’t so great anymore. This is what we’re doing to Christmas.
I pointed out my annoyance (in not-so-many words, however) to a friend of mine who shares my Christian faith, and he responded that we should celebrate Christmas and the life of our Saviour Jesus year-round. I can’t argue with that. But you know, on all of these Christmas decorations and stores and parking lots I’m not sure sure I can remember having seen a single nativity scene. Oh, they may be there, nestled in the back corners of “The Christmas Store”, but the front displays are jolly Santas and whatnot. Where are the teachings about Jesus’s life? The stories of God’s love for us?
After all, isn’t Christmas supposed to be the celebration of the birth of our Saviour? I guess not in modern America, we’ve got presents to open. God help us all . . .