Christmas is about the greatest gift of all

NEWS that the Irish League of Credit Unions has warned families against seasonal overspending (December 4) has a ring more familiar than the church bells at Christmas.

Commercialism has become the religion of our culture. Commercials no longer sell ‘things’. Instead, they peddle the philosophy that ‘things’ will make us happy.

As someone much more eloquent than I once put it: “We spend money we don’t have to buy things we don’t need to impress people we don’t like.”

Most of us have been there and we know it is a hollow existence. We entrust our happiness to a new CD, a computer game or a diamond. Our euphoria does not last very long.

But along the way, we have taught our children that Christmas is that wonderful time when they get ‘things’. There is nothing wrong with giving gifts, but it has become an orgy of obligation.

Perhaps it is time to rediscover Christmas. When we contemplate the nativity scene, we can remember that it really happened in human history.

When we hear the carols, we can remember the nomadic shepherds who were first to hear the news.

When we pay with our credit card, we can remember the baby who paid with his life.

It is not about the purchase of gifts for under the Christmas tree. It is about the greatest gift ever given and the most significant tree in history: the tree they carved into a cross.

Happy Christmas.

David Blevins

Drumnasnoo Road

Portadown

Co Armagh