A season where everyone seems to be smiling, hearts feel a little bit warmer, dreams float through the air like a sweet aroma, and love prevails. If you haven’t guessed already, I am of course talking about Christmas, and all the things that come with it. This is the time to break out the blinking lights, colorful baubles, and fake snow. It has become a rich part of the culture we live in to celebrate Christmas in the most lavish ways possible. However, can it be that we have become a bit excessive, and lost the real ideals of Christmas under all the shimmering decorations? Every year, consumers buy more and more “Christmas related” items, but perhaps they lose sight of what is truly important.

Think; when you drive around during the holiday season, what do you see on the lawns? It’s usually along the lines of lights, cute animals that somehow relate to winter or Christmas, snowmen, candy, and wreaths/ Christmas-themed trees. Now, there’s nothing wrong with any of this, and it does make a number of people feel jollier around the holidays. However, we also must consider how many religious symbols we see displayed in the yards. When you look, it wouldn’t be hard to see the considerable gap between the two. When we get back to the root of Christmas, there weren’t any cute little penguins (quite sadly). Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ, not a contest to see how many parts of your house you can get to light up.

However, as I mentioned before, all of the decorations are not completely corrupt. Though love, generosity, and care are not the very root of Christmas, they run deep in the veins of the holiday. Sometimes, when people see such decorations in the yards of others, they begin to feel happier, and happiness is at the root of all the concepts previously mentioned. We must begin to ask ourselves; If decorations compel people to participate in the  joy of the holidays, aren’t they fulfilling all that God would want them to? I don’t believe God intended for Christmas to be a holiday of solitary worship, but rather a way for the entire human race to rejoice together. Yes, as a country we can be overwhelming in our jubilation, but as long as we remember why we celebrate Christmas, there really is no harm in a few twinkling lights. In fact, perhaps we should be bonding together instead of trying to determine who’s right and who’s wrong in this situation.

As long as we keep God and each other in our hearts this holiday, I do believe we are fulfilling the wishes of Christ. We must strive to focus on the reason behind all the merriment, and if we can do this, we are achieving God’s wishes to the fullest extent. With the greatest sincerity, I wish everyone a holiday full of celebration and good humor. May all your endeavors end in the happiest way possible this year, and every year. God bless all, and have a Merry Christmas.