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The Pondering 10 - Christmas Season Misunderstandings

Now that the calendar bears the month of December, the Christmas Season is upon us. It is a time of reflecting, a time of family, a time of peace and most importantly, a time of celebrating the birth of a savior amongst us all. However, with December and the season, we have seen this time morph into several forms which have become a farce of the true meaning of Christmas. as a society we have added, twisted, and taken away from the true meaning of the season ultimately creating a false Christmas Season. With that said, in the latest Pondering 10 list, let's examine the top ten most misguided things about the Christmas season.
 



10. A "Perfect" Christmas - This comes in at number ten as it really isn't too terrible. However, sometimes the focus on capturing the moment, rather than simply enjoying the time of Christmas becomes too much of a focus in our society.


9. Extensive Christmas Lists -  It is amazing how the Christmas Season suddenly causes everyone to prioritize their wants. Now if we can only do so with our needs throughout the entire year. More on this later.


8. The Crazed Season Enthusiast - We all know one of these people. It is the person that begins playing Christmas carols all day, non-stop the Monday before Thanksgiving in your office, puts up every form of Christmas decorations, wears the typical bold Christmas sweaters, serves Christmas cookies and egg nog if you visit, and still hopes to see Santa Clause on Christmas Eve. Yes, this person takes the season just a bit too far with the "musts" and completely misses the point. 


7. "Holiday" Tree - Please stop the PC garbage of renaming a Christmas tree a "Holiday" tree. If I recall, there are only three holidays during this time, Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Kwanzaa has a Kinora, and Hanukkah has a Minora, with Christmas being the only holiday with a tree. Please stop attempting to twist the Christmas tree into something it is not. It belongs to Christmas. Tough. 


6. "X-Mas" - More PC junk. I understand our constant growing microwave society to shorten every word in the English language to  fit into a text message, yet, taking the "Christ" out of Christmas is like taking "Thanks" out of Thanksgiving. X-giving? Yeah, didn't think so. Once again, the story of Christmas is not Burger King, you can't have it your way. 


5. Commercialism - Somehow, the Christmas Season is now becoming the season of sales, deals, blowouts, clearances, percentages off, and cyber deals. Which leads us into...



4. Season of Greed - Touching on #9 and #5 on this list, somehow this time of the season has become about greed. Gifts are representative of the time of giving, not a time of demanding what you want. And you can write that on the bottom of your "list" as well. 


3. Shopping Season (Black Friday) - Nothing says good will and peace unto all men like elbowing, shoving, and trampling one another for that $200 flat screen television.


2. Santa Clause - I never quite understood the fascination with this character. Why would parents want to work hard all year to give their kids a present from some fictional character? A gift from Mom and Dad would go much further in appreciation.


1. Missing The Point - Whether sections of our society want to admit it or not, Christmas is a religious holiday. It's about the birth of a savior. No matter how many fictional characters we come up with, how many PC sayings we add, how many decorations we hang, or how many deals we come by, Christmas will always be about Christ. Always. 

Merry Christmas! And peace unto you all.
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