Give the gift of your time this Christmas

  • By Kyle Valentini
  • November 8, 2012
  • 317
                        
Summary: Christmas is too much about things and too little about spending time together. Take a moment to simply spend time with friends and family. No visit to the mall is required and you won’t have to worry if the color is right or if they already have it. Forget the presents and just be present. The length of the Christmas shopping season was extended by our own government who, at the request of lobbyists for large retailers moved the date of the Thanksgiving holiday from the last Thursday in November to the fourth Thursday of the month around 1940 to give retailers more time to attract shoppers. Considered the official start of the Christmas shopping season, the day after Thanksgiving has been come to be known as Black Friday. While some think the term comes from retailers operating all year without making any profits, thus putting them in the red, it is more likely a phrase coined by Philadelphia police officers forced to deal with horrendous traffic as holiday shoppers took to the streets in search of bargains to purchase for friends and family to be given as gifts on Christmas morning. Statistics show that about 135 million people go shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving. We hear a lot of people say they want Christmas to be what it was intended, a celebration of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. That event has been celebrated on December 25th since AD 354 by Christians in various ways around the world. Modern Americans reinvented Christmas and changed it from an absonant holiday into a family-centered day of peace and nostalgia. Oddly enough the customs of this modern Christmas were spread by children’s books, women’s magazines and the advertising media. It wasn’t until 1870 the day became a nationally recognized holiday. To this day even the most religious people can be seen scurrying about at the malls and big box stores in search of the trendiest items at the lowest prices. Face it; most of us willingly participate in the superficial aspects of the holiday even while celebrating the religious part. It doesn’t have to be this way. Although we have designated Christmas as a time to give gifts, those gifts can come in forms other than purchased items that have been carefully wrapped and placed beneath a brightly lit tree festooned with decorations. Sometimes the gift of spending time with others is more meaningful and certainly more memorable that the latest As Seen on TV kitchen gadget that also serves as a blanket with arms that can improve your vision while driving. Parents forget how much their kids enjoy time well spent. Sled-riding on the hill or making a snowman can elicit memories decades later in the form of, “Do you remember that Christmas we built the snowman and used pinecones from the big tree in the back yard for his eyes?” How many of us really remember what we got for Christmas last year? A surprise visit to a grandparent won’t soon be forgotten nor would a visit to a homeless shelter or a nursing home to share the gift of your time with people that might not have anything but themselves to give in return. At Christmas we don’t need presents as much as we need to be present. Sit quietly and listen to what others have to say. Go for a winter walk in the woods or down a city street with someone you love. Build a snow fort with your kids. Play with your dog. Give someone a hug. Look at old photos of family members that have passed away and talk about them and how much they meant to you. Bake cookies. Feed the birds. Call someone far away. It is Christmas after all. It’s the most wonderful time…of the year.


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