By Rodolfo Trujillo
The true message of Christmas is about God’s love for his people. If you don’t believe in that, then why celebrate it at all?
Christmas is less than three weeks away and people are going crazy at the stores buying gifts for the people in their lives. With unemployment and a struggling economy, many people are out looking for deals.
The day after Thanksgiving it was shocking to see how people were willing to hurt others just to get incredible deals on electronics and other popular consumer products. Several of those incidents occurred in Southern California, so it is not far-fetched to say that we have problems in our society. People have taken the bait of corporate America and have fallen hook, line and sinker.
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ, in the Christian religion. Around this time, Jews celebrate Hanukah and some African-Americans celebrate Kwanza. In all of those celebrations there is a theme of unity and peace.
What place does envy, wild partying and the purchase of lavish gifts have to do with this time? Consumerism has cast a shadow on the true meaning of Christmas.
It is sad to see so more people look forward to the holidays because of a gift they are going to get and not because they are going to be in the company of family or friends. A number of stores make up their losses for the entire year during this time because of the amount of people that buy things.
The true meaning of Christmas for instance can be found in the Gospel of Luke. “And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
Going and buying everything in sight at the store is not going to show your family that you care about them. This is not to say that a gift is not nice, but if you miss the opportunity to show love towards others and prioritize the consumerism, then we have simply played into the hands of corporate America.