NOTE: OK... this is a little belated... I started this on Christmas Day, and promptly forgot about it... but I think there are some good thoughts here. :)
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The presents have all been unwrapped... the Christmas Feast has long since gone the way of all the earth... and the strains of Christmas music have now gone silent... That is, until next September, when WalMart will promptly start playing them again... right after they take down the "Back To School" displays.
Why is it that every year we pledge to do a better job of cutting the Christmas Spending Monster off at the knees, and then cower in a corner when it rears its' ugly head? Fear. That's right. Fear.
Fear that we won't be "loved" as much by our family and friends if we don't spend the equivalent of a Third World Country's Gross National Product on clothes, toys, and gadgets.... most of which will be lost, broken or stained by December 26.
Fear that we will be judged as "cheap," or worse, "unloving" or "ungrateful" by those who we care about... "they just won't understand!"
Fear that WE won't get anything. Oh, stop it. You do TOO think this way. Stop lying to yourself. :D
So, we wearily climb back onto this annual treadmill of fear indulgence, thinking, "Well, there's always NEXT year. NEXT year we'll cut back, and take the kids to help out at a homeless shelter." But next year comes and goes, and the Christmas Spending Monster belches for effect and wipes its' mouth on its' sleeve... with a huge "I told you so" smirk.
Sometimes it seems to be a Cycle That Cannot Be Broken. But I wonder how out of control it has to get before we completely lose sight of what Christmas is all about?
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