Friggin' Christmas

Christmas time. *SIGH* I can't stands it much longer. I've only got a few days left before the end of the yearly shopping frenzy to complete my gift buying, and my heart just isn't in it. All the virtues Christmas was supposed to impose on man; peace, goodwill, and the like, are pretty much lost when competing for the next Hannah Montana tea party set, or the latest in a the series of Pokemon toys. I have yet to see a fist fight, but just walking into my local mall I can feel the tension. I'm not even a Christian and I still go through this crap every year. If I didn't have kids I would likely be the Scrooge in my neighbourhood, not bothering to put up a tree or lights, I wouldn't bother to buy anything for anyone, and I certainly would not engage in any kind of gift exchange, even if something was being given to me. Nothing says awkward when receiving something you don't like, and you have to fake liking it. We've all done it once or twice. Don't lie.

The ideals that Christmas past used to have are pretty much trashed. Or the big box stores put them on sale for low low prices in the form of the Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer DVD. If Santa Claus were real, even he would dread the one day of the year he makes his deliveries to a bunch of ingrates. Because we've lost the concept of goodwill towards each other, we had to find a way to fill the void. These days getting drunk and making an ass of yourself at the company Christmas party seems to have regrettably done the job. Since spending a Christmas in a foreign land with which we were at war a couple years ago, I can safely assume that peace was virtual fantasy. And what of love? Well nothing says love like seeing your childs disappointed expression on get them the wrong toy, and then considering an act of child abuse because you had to stand in line for almost an hour and a half convincing yourself that this was going to be THE ONE. It's no wonder that most parents start drinking early on Christmas day. Even I started drinking early. Yeah. Around November 12th.

The sad part is is that we have good way to break the cycle of Christmas despair. People take for granted the things they are lucky to have. You don't need those new golf clubs to survive. And that shiny new dress that you're going to wear New Years Eve? Yeah that won't taste good if you try to eat it. The money that someone spent on you this year to accouter you in decorative garb, is probably more than some dirt farmer in Tajikistan has seen in a decade. It costs about as much to keep a school house in Central America well stocked as it does to buy that iPod you so desperately want. And that gym membership someone bought you? It would have been better spent on making a micro loan to a Mexican drug lord than putting your fat ass on a treadmill when walking doesn't cost a thing. Let's face it. Going one time to lift weights so you can feel good about your up coming New Years resolution is about as wasteful as it gets, when that money could have done something good for someone else, because you aren't worth it yet.

We have to earn our way in this world to be worthy of the things and relationships we want. And that means putting yourself out there for the benefit of everyone. If a person decides to work a soup kitchen line a few times in a month, or volunteers a little bit at a youth drop in center, then they are at least doing something. Most people are so wrapped up in themselves that they can't be bothered with other peoples problems. Maybe we should all take the time to realize what we do have, and be thankful that we're alive another day to spend with each other. Some of us don't have much time left, and the gift to give is your time. Call up an old friend, go see your Great Aunt, buy a homeless guy a lunch because it's just time.

And time is likely the most precious gift we can offer.

Freeman