Merry Christmas?

Most of you know that I'm not a big fan of "hallmark" holidays. I'm not really big on celebrations of any sort, but I usually give in to the wife's desire to celebrate for the kids. The one thing I don't do, though is Christmas/birthday gifts. Growing up I didn't get a lot of those gifts from my parents and we never really celebrated with a party. The problem is that Christmas has become so commercialized that it is hard to get away from the pressure of gifts. I mean, displays are already popping up all over the place and October hasn't even ended!

There is no end to the ways advertisers are willing to go in order to sell. Especially in this down economy, people are pushing Christmas earlier and earlier. It is just real annoying to see these type of things when Thanksgiving isn't even on the current calendar page! It just goes to show that our society is so much about money these days. The "celebration" is all about what you give/get not about the actual holiday itself.

Now some may argue that Christmas isn't really Jesus' birthday (most believe it is sometime in the fall). Regardless if it is or not, that is the day by general consensus that His birthday is celebrated. So we should celebrate the birth of the greatest person to live on the earth. I just don't think we need to that by buying gifts for each other. And really, do we need a reminder two months in advance?