by Kimberly Harden

Created on: December 11, 2008

The Reason for the Season!

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels;

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

Christmas 2008 is upon us and as we send greeting cards and purchase gifts for our family and friends, it is important that we remember the real meaning of the holiday.

The holiday season is full of symbols and icons such as Santa Claus, snowmen, decorated wreaths and brightly lit, garland-laced trees. Most Christmas songs are about winter wonderlands, jingling bells or the fictitious "Jolly Old St. Nick." Very few Christmas songs, however, acknowledge and pay tribute to the reason for the seasonJesus Christ.

Nowadays, Christmas is equated to gift giving and receiving. Seeing how the wise men are said to have visited Jesus after his birth bearing gifts, gift giving is not a bad thing. Unfortunately, Americans are bombarded with advertisements that largely say people are only happy when they are exchanging presents. I believe the true meaning of Christmas is a celebration of the love we have for Christ and for our family and friends and to offer up thanksgiving in the form of prayer.

With so much chaos in the world (natural disasters, economic woes, etc.), Christmas should be the season of love and goodwill towards all of mankind.

Here are a few things you can do to renew your Christmas spirit:

Express your love

Giving a gift doesn't necessarily tell someone how much you love and appreciate them. If you love them, tell them! Express your love by telling each family member and friend how blessed you are to have them and how they made a difference in your life. If you have a hard time verbalizing your feelings, write them a "love letter" and drop it in the mail in time for them to receive it before Christmas.

Reflect

Who says you have to wait until January to reflect back on the previous year or even your entire life? Christmas is a great time to look back at the highs and lows of the year and give thanks for EVERYTHING. One of my favorite quotes is from the movie The Color Purple in which Celie says, "I'm poor, black, I might even be ugly, but dear God, I'm here. I'm here." No matter how difficult life is, be grateful that you're still here!

Put your money to better use

Rather than spending a fortune, buy inexpensive gifts (inexpensive, not cheap!). Most department stores have an in-store clearance section and an online section as well. JCPenney (www.jcp.com, Macy's (www.macys.com and Nordstrom (www.nordstrom.com all have links to clearance items tucked away in the sales section of their websites. Many stores offer free shipping (either with a discount code or minimum purchase) and Wal-Mart offers an express site to store service which allows you to purchase an item online and have it shipped directly to the store free-of-charge. If you don't like the bidding wars on eBay, check out Half.com, eBay's fixed-price subsidiary. You can purchase books, movies, music, and video games, both new and used, at deep discounts. Donate the money you saved on gifts to your favorite charitable organization.

To quote author Gladys Taber, "Christmas is a bridge. We need bridges as the river of time flows past. Today's Christmas should mean creating happy hours for tomorrow and reliving those of yesterday."

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