Monday; December 21

One of the things I haven’t heard too much about this year is the commercialization of Christmas. Maybe it is because I haven’t been in as many retail stores as I typically am this time of year or maybe it is because people are doing more online shopping, but the typical lamentations aren’t as prevalent this year. I really believe that fewer people are stressed by the typical holiday issues – multiple holiday parties, finding space for all the presents under the tree, how to fit all the family and a few close friends around a table in our dining rooms – but, could there be another reason … maybe even a more mature one? Could it be that we are realizing that stuff is not as important as other things in our lives? We aren’t fretting about getting the perfect present because we are so focused on maintaining the gift of health. We aren’t stressing out over how many people will be gathering at the house this year because we are saddened that we can’t all be together. We aren’t as busy making sure that everyone in the family has the same number of gifts because too many families are missing the presence of a grandma or grandpa this year. We aren’t as busy making last minute travel adjustments because we have come to a new appreciation of the freedoms we do have.
I am struggling to find much redeeming value in the Year of the Virus, but maybe it has helped us reflect on what is really important to us. I hope that next year we will need to be warned about the commercialization of Christmas – but for this year, let’s remember to be thankful for what we do have.

Think About It!

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