Christmas is over….at least around here. All the presents are unwrapped and ribbons and other junk are packed away in the trash bag. Growing up I’ve found that it doesn’t matter what you get for Christmas, because someone you know got something better that what you got. So be happy for what you’ve got.
The last time I truly remember believing in Santa Claus was when I was in 5th grade. During those early years, usually on Christmas Eve I couldn’t sleep at all with the anticipation of Santa. I’d get up at 5AM to see what Santa got me. At my house Santa was too lazy to wrap anything, so the presents were stacked up in front of the tree. There were 2 piles…one for my sister and the other for myself. When I was younger, it was all toys….except for gifts from my great-grandmother. She always got me practical gifts because she felt we had too many toys….which we probably did. I remember one time getting an alarm clock from her.
We don’t get together with extended family much anymore. This childhood tradition soon stopped after my grandparents died. Sometimes I feel like we only got together for Christmas in order to please both sets of grandparents. At times Christmas can seem empty, yet it is a relaxing time since I don’t do any traveling. Nowadays we usually get together with our neighbors’ on Christmas Eve night for sandwiches. Then they come over to our house for breakfast on Christmas morning.
There are some people out there who truly believe that Christ was born on December 25, 0000. ‘Tis a sad circumstance when someone is ignorant and doesn’t read their Bible. Since the Bible doesn’t say when Christ was born, it would be wrong to try to pin His birth on a particular day. In that sense one would be going beyond what the Bible had written. However if Christmas helps people remember Christ on a particular day, then it probably does more good than harm, in a religious sense. I just wish more people would get serious about their religion. For these people who aren’t serious about their religion, I call them “Chreasters” – people who come to church only on Christmas and Easter.
I spent Christmas Eve night at Roy’s house putting pictures on his webpage. Some of them are quite humorous.