Planning Ahead

This is my September 2015 column for The Long Island Catholic. I am posting it here, because it does not appear to be linked at the paper's website. If the malls and stores wish to banish Our Lord, it is up to us to do more than merely boycott. We need to change our traditions and walk away from the rush and madness for good. Here is the column:

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No one loved Christmas gift giving more than my mother. All year long, she would collect toys here and there, so that when Christmas day dawned, our living room was piled high with presents. I was an only child, so whatever was waiting under the tree was mine. When we celebrated my eldest daughter’s first Christmas, my husband was mildly amused to see the hoard that awaited her. “Does she really need all this stuff?” he asked, surveying the rocking horse, blocks, games, dolls and stuffed animals. As our nine-month-old daughter sucked her thumb and played with the tag on a Teddy bear, I answered with perfect confidence, “Absolutely!”

It makes me smile to remember it now. If I had known we would have nine children, I might have paced myself just a bit. Although materialism has long been a problem in American Christmas tradition, there really was a sweetness to it all those years ago. The old standard song, Silver Bells, describes the season as I remember: “In the air, there’s a feeling of Christmas. Children laughing, people passing, meeting smile after smile.”

Last December, I dropped my teens off at a party and decided to do some Christmas shopping at a local mall. There was something oppressive about the atmosphere. Everyone seemed angry or just bewildered. The shops were trashed. A well known lingerie store hawked its wares just opposite a children’s clothing store. The weary mothers did not bother to shield their children’s eyes from the billboard-sized, soft-porn images. I thought of my days in college, selling cosmetics at a large department store. We would greet each customer with a smile and a “Merry Christmas.” Today, in this mall, not a soul dared to wish another a Merry Christmas, and the whole place seemed smothered in a shroud of misery.

American retailers depend on Christmas shopping for 40% of their yearly income. According to Gallup, the average American adult planned to spend $781 on Christmas gifts this past year, and the numbers are on the rise. How can we continue to celebrate the birth of our Savior by piling up credit card bills and filling our homes with junk purchased from retailers who have purged the name of Christ from their stores?

It may only be September, but this is the year I am going to stop burning incense before the god of materialism. We are planning other ways to celebrate, especially with our littlest children. When I look back upon the happiest Christmases of my life, I remember the red candle my mother burned on Christmas Eve, the choir singing hymns at St. Mary’s Church before Midnight Mass, my father reading the story of the birth of Jesus from a picture book and, many years later, my husband reading “A Christmas Carol” to our children every year.

If Christians are to be shuffled out of the public square in 2015 America, let us go together joyfully, shake the dust of the world from our feet, and gather around the manger. There we will find the only Gift that will ever truly matter.

Comments

[Susan Crimi]

Amen Alice! Could never have put it more perfectly!

[Jennie Cooper]

This is a really nice post. We've kind of downplayed Santa the past few years to the point where the children don't even make a list for him anymore! I'm not sure how to make him completely disappear, or if I'd introduce him if I had it to do again, but I can say that our happiest Christmas was they year our house in Georgia hadn't sold yet, and we didn't really have a lot of cash. I told the children I was getting them one gift each, and they were fine with that! And then, they made and purchased gifts for each other, too, so that there was quite a lot of thoughtful giving and genuine love under that tree. :-)

[Barbara]

I completely agree, and I don't do any shopping where Christ has been removed from Christmas. Years ago we started limited gifts to three a piece -- no more than the Child Jesus. They are simple, and now that my children are becoming adults, sometimes even edible gifts (which are really nice because they don't hang around forever). Gift-giving is the smallest part of our Christmas, and I love it! And the children appreciate what they do receive.

[Susan]

Love this: "There was something oppressive about the atmosphere. Everyone seemed angry or just bewildered. The shops were trashed."

I experienced the very same thing for the past few Christmases now. This year, I've resolved to get all shopping done before December so that I could minimize my shopping time in December and focus more on Advent reflection. And on making plans to celebrate all 12 days of Christmas in style :)