I grew up in a home where commercialism was kept in check come Christmas time. Santa was always good to us on Christmas morning, and the house was a great place to be on that day. But both my parents had seminary degrees. My dad was a Baptist minister, and our Christmases were more about church related things - socials, the sharing of gifts, the big music presentation, and delivery of food and toys to families down on their luck. It was a good time, one I remember fondly.
Some people take Christmas to the extreme when it comes to decoration and celebration and all that, and that's fine up to a point. We sometimes drive around town to look at Christmas decorations, and I'm always amazed at how much effort some people put into it. Once while visiting a friend in Yukon, Oklahoma, we drove around his neighborhood looking at decorations. One house had an extraordinary display of lights and all sorts of things. Elaborate won't cover what this guy had done with his house and yard. I got a good laugh out of his next door neighbor's decoration because it consisted of just one thing - a lighted arrow across the top of his roof pointing toward the eleborate display next door.
I don't do much in the way of outdoor decoration these days, and we don't spend as much money on gifts now. The grandkids are older, and some years we spend Christmas pretty much alone. Even if the kids come, it's for just a short time. We don't bother to put up a fancy Christmas tree most years now, but there's still plenty of Christmas cheer around here . . . and I don't mean the kind that involves alcohol. I spent my last Christmas with a hangover well over thirty years ago. Nobody drinks around my place on Christmas. In fact, I think it's a low class thing to do. Why would you want to celebrate Christ's birthday with booze? I did at one time, but that was then, and back then I was a dumbass most of the year, not just on Christmas. These days, I celebrate the right way, and that's the Christian way.
I'm not a church person these days, haven't been for a long time, but I'm smart enough to remember what Christmas should be about. I spoiled a lot of Christmases past and don't have good memories of them. That's the price I pay for doing it the wrong way. I'm not much of a Christian either, but I'm of the opinion that Christmas actually belongs to them. Like the old saying: Jesus is the reason for the season. Celebrate Christmas any way you like, that's your right . . . but don't spoil it for the people who celebrate it for what it really is. Perhaps one of these days I'll face an accounting for things I did down here on earth, and if that happens I'm likely to be asked, "Did you really show up at your mama's house drunk on Christmas? Did you do that, brother Phil?" I really hate to answer that question.
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