The famed news commentator Eric Sevareid once said,
“The biggest business in America is not steel, automobiles or television. It is the manufacture, refinement and distribution of anxiety.”
My friends and family know that a few years ago, I took to heart a challenge to simplify Christmas and forego the hectic quest to fill a shopping list – the Christmas Chaos. It is not a Scrooge thing, it is an effort to focus on what Christmas really means. Instead of buying gifts, I make a donation to a local charity in my friends’ honor. After all, how many of us have family and friends that actually need anything? Not want, but need. There are far too many people who truly are in need. For me, it is not good enough to say there are programs to help them. That just seems like I am shirking my responsibility as a fellow human being. Am I my brother’s keeper? Yes, I believe I am. Anonymity amidst our world of endless communication is one of the great ironies of our time. Technology is not a replacement for relationship. We cannot care from a distance.
If you found yourself in a difficult situation, do you have people in your life you could turn to for help? Real help, not just advice. For food, money, a place to stay? It was not that long ago that temporarily living with family or friends was a normal occurrence. That was before mass media created the myth of living the American dream. We have replaced community with communication. We falsely think we are all connected because we have so many ways to interact with each other. The truth is, those interactions are just noise. Real relationships bring about transformation. Face-to-face conversations about ourselves with those we trust help us grow. Making bold statements on social media only serve to cover up our real anxieties.
As I go through each holiday season and watch people frantically scurry around to try to create the perfect Christmas, I am saddened. The Christmas spirit that once prevailed during this time has been replaced with holiday anxiety. Endless shopping, fretful planning, putting off worries about spending until January and deep down wondering if I will get what I want for Christmas are the values that drive the season. My Christmas wish for everyone is to receive the gift that very few have asked for or even thought about. The gift that everyone strives for subconsciously without realizing it. The gift that doesn’t come from a store or online retailor. The gift that comes from within when we step outside the frenzied world we have created and honestly ask ourselves what is important.
Peace and contentment.
Merry Christmas
2 Responses
Merry Christmas to you, my friend.
Mark this so poignant and I couldn’t agree more with everything you have stated. This morning as I write this in the warmth and safety of my home, with my wife and children (all adults now) still sleeping peacefully, the fireplace is flickering its warm glow, and seasonal music is playing softly, I have to ask myself if in the absence of such bliss would I still be “celebrating” this day? I pray it would never come to such a situation for me and my family but, because the true essence of the holiday is about who is my God and his demonstration of such unparalleled love for me, I pray that he would find me faithful at all times and in all things and through all things.
In this present day and age we will find our reason for celebrating Christmas evermore increasingly challenged by the “spirit of this world” which seeks to marginalize our faith and mock our convictions. It is in such a climate of apostasy that we desperately need to realize just what you have for this season and for everyday of our lives while we remain here on this earth.
Bless you my friend and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!