Holedays: How Consumerism and Commercialism is Destroying the Holidays

For the first time in my life I am not looking forward to the holidays. This past Christmas in particular has sent me over the edge. In the past I was able to maintain the True Meaning and Reason for the Season in my heart, and embrace the traditions of the Christmas Tree, tolerate Santa Claus, and more. This year however, I find myself severed from everything except the Savior born in the Manger. The consumerism and commercialism has caused me to no longer care about the festivities. The stores and all their clammering to make sales and convince people who have said no to their children all year to say yes at Christmas and go into debt is appalling. Rather than be close to their children all year, parents choose to make up for the workacholicism and disinterest in the lives of their children with lavish gifts at Christmas.

The commercial powers that be have effectively ruined the holidays. Once upon a time Christmas Day instilled in me a sense of wonder, expectation, and delight. Now it has become an aberration and shadow of its original purpose which was to celebrate the Birth of Christ, bring families together, and give gifts out of genuine love not obligation. Now instead of a crowded Manger Scene with shepherds, we have crowded Malls with shoppers. Now instead of celebrating the birth of the Savior and true Messiah, children flock to the mythical Santa. The entire holiday has been effectively secularized, and any vestiges of the True Meaning are only on display to appease us, and convince us that the companies care about Christ and us Christians, but its all apart of the commercialism ruse to get us to spend, spend, and spend some more.

The Holidays, once called Holydays are now Holedays where people go into financial holes of debt and where the true meaning and purpose of the holidays sinks into holes of commercial shadow. My heart is bereft with grief, that Christmas my most beloved holiday has now become merely another tool for Mammon and his worshippers to earn a buck. I will still celebrate the True Meaning of Christmas, who is Christ Jesus, but as for me Santa, the Christmas Tree, and the elves and their shelves can stay at the department store. I am ready to return to the Cathedral, to the Catholic, Angelican, and Lutheran services, vigils, and masses that allow the masses of believers like myself to celebrate that Light came into the World (John 1:1-15) and that Christmas is not suppose to be a stressful search for the perfect gift, but to celebrate the Greatest Gift of God becoming a Man to save us from sin, death, and hell in the calmness of the church with candles lit, and carols sung with gladness and joy.

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