Was it God or Santa who asked the person to drop in the bags of gifts? How lovely that the child thought to query this. What drives us all, in the Christmas madness? In this instance, I suspect that it was God, or love of people and of God, that inspired the giving. Having just blogged about Santa leaving me gifts it gave me food for thought.
If it is true that Jesus was most likely to have been born some time between March and October, and we are putting all this emphasis on pagan dates, is it any wonder that "Christ" is slipping out of Christmas?
In my life-changing move to the other side of the world I have had to face unexpected issues. I now place much less emphasis on material things. But still I found it hard to let go of some that I had collected over the years. It is my aim to have a simple, comfortable home that I can happily let others use, not wondering if they will break things I treasure. That is so much easier said than done.
I have become quite anti commercialism, especially when I read about the sweat shop type factories that continue long after Dicken's time. Christmas feeds into the commercial drive, or is perhaps the result of it. We own too much "stuff" already, and "stuff management" after Christmas becomes a priority.
I remember many years ago when my children were small a family member said that they did not want Christmas gifts at all, and would not be sending any but were donating to the poor instead. It seemed a little sad at the time, thinking that the family would not be receiving gifts, and would be having such a simple Christmas day. Now, so many years later, I wish that I had taken more from Deborah's lead.
One of the best bumper stickers in New Zealand is the one that reads "Take only photographs, leave only footprints". It refers to the natural forests and beaches, but could be applied more widely.
Today's Peace quote for the day has just come in.
We cannot live only for ourselves.
A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow-men;
along those fibers, as sympathetic threads,
our actions run as causes,
and they come back to us as effects.
—Herman Melville
The bells are ringing as I type, calling people to prayer. Fireworks are whistling, although it is light outdoors. It is time to go out, to enjoy Christmas day.
I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas, however you choose to celebrate it.
PS added 28-12-09.
Did Christmas originate in Italy? It seems that the also the singing of Christmas carols did.
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