At the beginning of this holiday season, we were besieged with story after story about people who did not believe in Christmas. In fact, they didn’t believe in much of anything except their right to speak out against the beliefs of many others. They were so busy protesting the fact that many wanted to erect the yearly Nativity scene and that made them really angry. So they decided to protest against it and demanded equal space in all public areas to respond with their own “decorations”. This really made me sad. After all, Christmas is the celebration of Christ’s birth so if you don’t believe is Christ, why not just ignore it and celebrate the fact that you get a free vacation day?
I guess that has led me to but just one conclusion and that is that this is the best holiday season ever!!! Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and sending lot of love and hugs to all as you celebrate with your families and friends.
It seemed like the protesting was increasing in intensity. More space was being delegated to protesting Christmas than was actually being used to place Christmas decorations. People were fighting with each other in the stores over merchandise. There were long lines of people staying out in the cold just to get a great price on the latest gadgets that the kids had to have for Christmas. Everywhere you turned, a new story was being written about how the spirit of Christmas had been destroyed by commercialization and pricing wars.
But then a miracle happened. A lady in Michigan went to a K-Mart store and paid off the layaway accounts for a couple of families. The story about what she had done started to travel far and wide and pretty soon other people started to do the same in stores all around the country. All of a sudden, other people were talking about this spirit of giving and sharing for the holiday season. More and more people started to do things to help friends and families and communities without the slightest desire to be identified or to receive great accolades for their generosity. I saw this happening in my office with my co-workers. I heard about how friends had gathered together to make a special holiday for a family. I saw the people showing up for the toy drives and giving as much as they possibly could. And I saw people everywhere contributing food and money so those who were less fortunate would not go hungry for the holidays.
Yes, the spirit of Christmas is back. I haven’t heard any more complaints about manger sightings or fighting in the store aisles. I have only heard one story after another about how people have been helping one another and sharing the true spirit of Christmas in any way that they can. I have seen one child after another contributing to a toy drive. I have seen children standing in lines with their parents to buy a gift for someone else. I went shopping within the last few hours of Christmas Eve and saw more smiles on peoples’ faces and the exchanges of greetings than I have seen in any other holiday season. And even though some people had to work up to the very last minute, they were still smiling and being friendly with the customers that they were helping. I guess that has led me to but just one conclusion and that is that this is the best holiday season ever!!! Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and sending lot of love and hugs to all as you celebrate with your families and friends.
Barbara Jacoby is an award winning blogger that has contributed her writings to multiple online publications that have touched readers worldwide.