Sometimes I wonder, if St. Nicholas had known how commercialized Christmas was going to become, would he have thought twice about tossing those coins down the chimney?
Of course, some would say that the gift giving tradition started long before that, with the wise men. Most people don't realize that the Bible never says there were three wise men, it only mentions that there were three gifts. For all we know, four or five wise men might have all chipped in to buy gold.
And even before that, the Romans had celebrations that included decorating their homes and giving gifts.
It was during the Victorian age that Christmas as we know it started to flourish. With the industrial age store bought gifts started replacing handmade gifts.
We all lament the commercialized feeling of the holiday.
But doesn't Christmas just reflect how we live the rest of the year? The need for the latest electronic gadgets, more toys than a child could possibly play with, spending more than we really should to buy stuff we don't truly need. Maybe it's not Christmas that's commercialized. Perhaps it's just our culture, or our society. Aw heck....maybe it's just us.
I don't mean that to produce guilt, but only as a question. Believe me, if I had a lot of money, I'd go on a gift buying binge.
But I wonder if our need to give more and more has really made Christmas less....
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