If Christmas is about anything I think it should be love - Loving kindness - Generosity of spirit - Caring & Empathy for others.
I've had conversations with friends and aquaintances over the years & this year too, & virtually all said similar things. Christmas has got out of hand, no one needs or wants all the "stuff", it's too commercialised, it's too expensive in time & money - we eat & drink too much - it goes on too long.....
Some friends try to rein in the shopping fest & present giving. They agree among themselves that they will escape from the tyranny of expectation - only have one lucky dip present for adults - see who can buy the funniest / best present for £10 or under - only give (one present) to children.
I've tried to inform / agree with friends & family that we won't buy presents for eachother & gave the money to charity. But now I am on my own I get invited to in law's Christmas day lunch, (and am grateful that they include me). So what do you do? Everyone is exchanging gifts, it would be miserable & churlish not to participate. I haven't sent Christmas cards for several years. I send an egreeting & add another charity to my list of direct debits.
It just seems bizarre & frankly unacceptable to me to be participating in all this excess having just watched an Open University series of programmes called "Why Poverty". The human mind has the capacity to put the blinkers on & only see what it wants to see. We all know, only too clearly, that a huge proportion of the world doesn't have the basics of life - health, adequate food, clean water & shelter - Including many in the so called "developed world". So how do we justify to ourselves the unjustifiable? We tell ourselves that we individually can't change things. We have no power.
But if everyone made a small change in their Christmas, collectively it would make a difference - Think acorns & oak trees. If it became a public movement everyone would benefit. I doubt if we would really miss some of the trappings of Christmas. Adults could still keep the magic alive for children. How can we continue to celebrate a Christian festival like we do - nothing could be further from the teachings of all the religions than the consumer frenzy we call Christmas now.
If we love our fellow human beings surely this is intolerable?
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