Reflection

Christmas is a magical time for children and those who keep wonder in their hearts. However, one problem has surfaced in the difficulty of keeping Christmas from becoming the commercial competition that advertising colors it. Television and periodicals bombard us with messages to show our love by buying special tokens of affection. The message of hope and joy becomes a distorted jingle: If a person cares enough or wants to make a dear one happy, he or she will purchase some expensive item that requires months to pay off.

Other ads assault audiences indirectly with feelings of inadequacy. Husbands become targets for guilt if they do not have a beribboned new automobile in the driveway for the little woman.

To the dismay of mature women, ads show glamorous young women in lingerie to persuade them that all they need is a new scanty garment to gain the adoration of a spouse.

The underlying message hints that we must buy to feel whole or less needy. Magically, all our problems of the job, family, and friends will disappear if we make our love manifest in materials for those around us. But the targets do not cease with male and female.

After a dose of commercial guilt ads, even grandparents feel the need to make sure that every grandchild has an equal amount of gifts. Tight budgets fade in proportion to the mounting importance of give, give, give.

At the same time, charitable organizations put in their bid for the holiday spendfest. Visual ads call attention to those individuals who barely manage to eat in foreign countries and our own society. Entering the grocery store, a bell ringer wishes us Merry Christmas and reminds us that not everyone will have a happy holiday.

As time passes, I realize that I am no purist and have felt the tug of media's call to transform Christmas. Yet I, too, have heard the message to remember those who have less and share. My problem with the current trend is why only one season to remember others. Perhaps this rant boils down into commemorating Christmas in our own unique way.

We can give something more wonderful and unique by listening to those we love or those who feel forgotten, and we can provide joy. We can recognize and value another human being. A gift can be a smile we give a stranger or the time to inquire how life is treating someone.

Many observe Christmas going to church and celebrating the birth of our savior. This may truly be one way to check the seasonal insanity.

But whatever way we keep Christmas, we must be actively vigilant to restore a magical time of wonder.