Some of my best memories I have is when I was a kid, looking forward to Christmas every year. Not just for the presents but also for the feeling of celebrating the birth of Christ. The night before 
Christmas my parents would always read us the Christmas Story and in Matthew how Mary was pledged to marry Joseph, but before they got married, Mary got pregnant by the Holy Spirit and all we understood out of that is that Jesus was the son of God. Joseph and Mary later got married and Jesus was born n a manger. We’d have our eggnog and go to bed early waiting on Santa the following morning. We couldn’t wait to see our gifts, no matter how few. It was so much fun… the tradition of it all. We didn’t get a lot of presents. It was just such a joyous occasion.
However, over the years, it seems the Christmas holiday has become so commercialized. Retailers are taking over to the extent that the story of Jesus has been replaced by sales. Gift cards have replaced presents in many cases because it’s easier.
People are now pitching tents to be the first in line to shop, not only before, but on Christmas day as well to be the first in line to buy primarily electronics. Fights break out. There are melees and for the life of me I don’t understand what kind of pleasant memories you can get out of that.
Gift cards are pretty much forgotten the next Christmas as to who gave them to you….but a gift….ah…you’ll remember who gave you your first bicycle or Spider Man or your first Mario. But a gift card…you go to Target and buy something that you wanted you to have. It wasn’t the loved one doing the shopping for that special something.
And one more thing, I wonder how many people who camp out for the Christmas sales, even on Christmas day, read the Christmas story or Matthew in the Bible in their tents to see exactly what we are supposed to be celebrating.
Sam Putney