Selflessness This Holiday Season
published in Campbellsville University's Campus Times


The coolness of the Fall season brushed against my skin as I exited the theater after watching the cinematic movie "A Christmas Carol." I sat down inside of my car pondering what I had just experienced. I'm sure, like me, you too have seen so many variations of Charles Dickens' classic that you could surmise the plot in about 10 seconds. Yet, this interpretation not only transformed Dickens' tale in a way never done before, but the message from the story has seem to come out in a way not known before.

The Christmas season will be upon us soon ladies and gentlemen, and yet, I see that the Thanksgiving holiday has seem to be given the boot by the media. Perhaps it's been this way for quite some time, but I am now fully realizing just what the ramifications are and could be. Now, you are probably asking yourselves, "What ramifications? Who cares?" and I will show you if given a moment of your time.

Christmas, in this day and age, has long since been given the view that it's just another ordinary holiday where families come together to give each other gifts. Not necessarily a bad thing. However, what happened to its true meaning? When did Christmas become so commercialized that the true meaning of it has long since been forgotten?

It's all about money really. Businesses know that people will buy gifts for their loved ones. They know that, if given the right discount for example, people will rise early from their warm bed and wait in line at their local Wal-Mart at four in the morning. Big holidays=big money. Easter, for example, is a good example. It's all about beautiful light-colored eggs that a mysterious bunny, who seems to have broken into your house, has hidden because he wants children to eat candy.

Thanksgiving isn't bankable. There's nothing to sell for it, except turkeys of course. Businesses do try though: stuffed turkey toys and some pilgrim saltshakers; decorations of pilgrims and Native Americans holding hands and eating a feast; pilgrim hats to wear around (because we all know the first settlers of our country all wore the exact same clothing).

It's all about families coming together during the Thanksgiving holiday. To give thanks for what they have. Where's the profit in that?? Nowhere. This is why, after Halloween (which is perhaps the most commercialized "holiday."), Christmas ads start showing up. Who cares about all that lubby-dubby Thanksgiving stuff when you can buy a new diamond bracelet for your spouse at Christmas? Why spend your hard earned cash buying a plane ticket to see your family when you can wait a month and buy more gifts for them?

Let's face the facts: we all spend more money during Christmastime than any other time of the year. We also receive the most gifts. Why is this though? What happened to love? What happened to family? What happened to Christ? Why do we need to spend money in order to show someone that we love them? Could a simple hug, or kiss, or a kind act be enough? Long ago it was taught that giving a gift without the want or thought of receiving something in return was more generous than anything else. - the act of selflessness.

We spend so much money buying items for our loved ones that we never bother to ask ourselves where else can I spend this money? Why not donate a portion to an orphanage or homeless shelter? Why not give some money to the Red Cross or to the Kiwanis Club so that orphaned children can actually have a coat for Christmas? Why not go to Wal-Mart, buy some socks, and donate them to Goodwill?

Christmas is a time for families. A time to say, "I love you". It doesn't need to be in a form of a new iPod or new laptop. It doesn't have to be a new purse or a new watch. It can be an old photo; a customized card; an ornament made out of Popsicle sticks; or just a simple coat for a stranger.

Sitting in my car and staring up in the sky, I pondered what I had just experienced. That experience has brought me here, to ask you to be selfless this Christmas; to give for the sake of giving; to love without being told; and to care for those you may now know. You may sacrifice, sure, but isn't that what Christmas is about?


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