PLN 11

In the article Japan: Full-speed ahead for Christmas and New Year’s Eve what matters is what Christmas has become. In the article it describes how Christmas is like a car that is moving at full speed, with stores advertising trying to convince people that they simply have to have a certain product. Sadly for most adults it has become a season of stress and frustration as they try to find the newest toy that their kids simply had to have. For kids it has become a time where they demand and beg until their parents buy them the perfect gift, and lots of gifts. Often they aren’t even truly grateful they play with the toy for a couple hours maybe days, then it either breaks or they toss it aside with all the other toys they got bored with. Christmas should be a wonderful season filled with cheer, giving, love, celebrating the birth of a savior and everything that goes along with the Christmas spirit. When I think of Christmas I think of cookies and lights, getting presents, but even more I think of the immense joy of watching someone who is truly grateful open a present they never expected to get. We have all heard it a thousand times we give gifts because on this day God gave us the most precious gift, his son. But watching a homeless man receive a hot meal or a warm jacket, or a sick girl who has been stuck in the hospital for years receive a doll and a person to play with for an hour or two, makes me a lot more grateful for everything I already have. Christmas was never meant to be a season of rush and spending, like it is in this article, but I think if we focus on giving instead of getting it will brings the joy and gratefulness back into the Christmas season.