December 20, 2007

• As Christmas sits on our doorstep, I figured it would be an appropriate time to just sit down and write for awhile, seeing as I haven't really done so in quite some time.

  It is hard to put into words how I feel about Christmas this year. Working retail has, without a doubt, put a new perspective on everything. As some already know, I despise the vast majority of Christmas music. I can't stand how obnoxious and overdone it is. Well, as irony always seems to enjoy doing, it decided to place me in a situation where I am forced to listen to Christmas every day, for my entire eight hour shift. On top of that, as I listen to this Christmas music, I am forced to continually maintain a positive and energetic persona while dealing with ruthless bargin shoppers who could not care less if their haggling and rude price demands could potentially get me in trouble. They simply want the best deal, even if I specially state at the beginning of the conversation that we don't haggle. They consider me a tool; not a human being who has friends and family and people I love. No, to them I am just a barrier standing in the way of the perfect Christmas, and in order to achieve it, they have to successfully tear me down until I have nothing left to offer. Am I being slightly dramatic? Yes, I am. But my point is that people who rant and rave about the commercialism of the holidays are absolutely right. I was at Barnes and Noble last night when the power went out, and I saw people just sticking books in their coats and walking out. The alarms weren't working and no one was checking us as we left, so these people saw fit to obtain their Christmas gifts without paying. Tis the season, I suppose.

  But in the end, there are a few things that remind me why Christmas does have some value. As an older woman was leaving the store the other day, I smiled at her as I always do and wished her a "safe and merry Christmas." She stopped in her tracks, turned around and gave me a hug and a smile, looked straight into my eyes and said "Merry Christmas to you as well." I didn't cop out and offer a pathetic and feeble "Happy Holidays" or some other commercialized and generic phrase. I believe in Christmas, and if people have a problem with me wishing people a Merry Christmas, they can take that problem and forget it. I used to hate the Christmas season. All it meant to me was time off school and another long car ride to Illinois, where I would spend my time answering the same six or seven questions to people who I felt only asked because they felt obligated to do so. I love my extended family, but they never seem to work up the drive to actually visit us out here, so I don't really feel convinced when they lament about how "we never see you, it's so sad!" Christmas to me because a time of forced smiles and sleepless nights, as each night was on someone else's couch, floor, air mattress or cot. But finally, just this past year, we stayed home for Christmas. I had begged and pleaded with my parents. I wanted so badly to have a Christmas where I woke up in my room, in my bed, with my pillow, my blankets, my alarm, and opened the presents under my tree, in my own living room, in my home. I wanted to go to Christmas morning service in my church, with the people I knew as my extended family; the church family that I have seen every week for eighteen years. And that is exactly what we did. We celebrated as a family. We didn't have to do some ridiculous "open gifts by age" thing, and we didn't have to be subjected to driving three hours on Christmas day to reach another batch of relatives who never seemed to remember how difficult it was for us to be there in the first place. It was just us. Five Garmoes and two dogs, enjoying our home.

  To wrap up my point, Christmas to me is about two things. More then Thanksgiving, it is a time that I sit back and give thanks for what I have and the family that I love; just the five of us. Secondly, and much more importantly, it is a time of worship. It is a time when I constantly remind myself that the earthly birth of my Savior was a monumental and earth-shattering event. Forget all of the controversy over religion that plagues the Earth today. Ignore those who try and tell me that my Savior wasn't real; that everything I have devoted my entire life to has simply been a glorified book of fairy tales. Jesus is real. He was really born, in a humble stable. Everything else is just extra. To those who try and take the Christ out of Christmas, I offer you this. Look outside today, in Bowie. There is no snow on the ground. The weather is chilly, but not especially so. There is no roaring wind or driving rain. There is absolutely nothing exceptional about this day, or this week. Why then, do we suddenly declare this "the winter holiday," with no real signs of winter present aside from the temperature? Why isn't winter break in February, when there is often snow on the ground and freezing temperatures lingering for weeks? It is because of Christmas. It is because our society has celebrated for 2000 years, the birth of Jesus in this very time. Yet we see fit to suddenly bestow a Happy Holiday on what has never been a holiday, but has always been Christmas. I just want the world to stop offending me. We are all so scared to offend the Muslim, the Mormon, the Atheist or the Jew. What about me? Where's my holiday? Why I can't I wish you a Merry Christmas just because I'm employed by a company? I love my God, and I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is the truth. That is Christmas to me. So why can't I share that, when the rest of the world gets to share their own beliefs?

  So as Christmas draws near, I remain excited. I am excited to spend Christmas here in Bowie again. I am excited to attend Christmas morning service at my own church. I am excited to spend the evening with my extended family of no blood relation; the people I have seen every day for eighteen years. I get to see my beautiful girlfriend on Christmas, and not just wish her a Merry Christmas over text messaging. I don't have to constantly tell my relatives a somewhat fabricated version of who I am. If they really want to know, they can call. I get to focus on what I believe is the meaning of Christmas. Friends, family, loved ones, home, fellowship, and above all, Christ.

  • 11:38 AM
  • 2 Comments