Christmas is for Christmas
Finally, the Christmas season is here! It’s a time we can spend with our families, listen to Christmas music, meditate on God’s sacrifice in the form of Jesus made human and eat Christmas cookies. Unfortunately, some misguided individuals have already desecrated the season by stretching it over many months.
Christmas celebrations should begin the day after Thanksgiving and continue until New Years’ Eve at the latest. Here’s why:
Thanksgiving is a holiday too.
In Oct., Christmas decorations go up in stores. Many people begin listening to Christmas music soon after. Some families decorate their houses in Oct. or early Nov. Such an early emphasis on Christmas overshadows the wonderful holiday that is Thanksgiving, and that’s not okay. Thanksgiving celebrates and honors a pivotal moment in American history, when the first Thanksgiving meal was enjoyed by the surviving passengers of the “Mayflower” and their Native American friends.
The meal foreshadowed the survival of the English passengers when they initially had such a rough go of it after landing in the New World. The story’s not only politically significant, as the “Mayflower” passengers were some of the ancestors of those who formed the United States, but it’s religiously significant as well.
Many of those who took part in the first Thanksgiving came to the New World seeking religious freedom. Beginning Christmas too early wrongfully takes focus off of Thanksgiving.
Limiting Christmas builds character.
I know this one sounds a bit sketchy, but hear me out. Limiting Christmas to a month-and-a-half window forces people to forgo their desires to celebrate in the short term. It requires a rejection of instant gratification and builds patience, as more waiting is involved if Christmas is held off until after Thanksgiving. Learning patience builds character.
Too much of a good thing isn’t good.
You know that song you liked until you listened to it too much and now you don’t like it anymore? You know that meal you liked until you ate it every day and now you don’t like it anymore? You know that activity … well, you get the point.
Too much of a good thing isn’t good! If we listen to Christmas music, eat Christmas cookies and immerse ourselves in decorations for too many months, those activities will lose their appeal. Christmas won’t seem as special every Dec. if we constantly celebrate it outside the Christmas season.
Of course, now we are in the Christmas season so none of this is relevant in the short term. But the best way to make sure you enjoy next year’s season is to remember this advice!
Max Bromme is a junior business administration.