Opinion: Remember: Holidays deliver more than gifts

We all know that Christmas is the most significant holiday of the year.

Merchants rely on holiday shopping to show a yearly profit. The shopping season begins the day after Thanksgiving. The advertising blitz promoting it starts well before that, and the season ends with the final after-Christmas sale.

The fury of giving Christmas gifts can, and often does, get completely out of hand; still, the basic notion of giving is a positive one. It goes over the edge when giving becomes a hassle, which was not intended to be a part of that mystical concept, the spirit of Christmas.

Although gift giving goes too far in dominating the season, it is an integral part. Like most adults, my attitude toward receiving and giving gifts changed as I moved through various phases of life.

Early on, there was a childlike elation attached to Christmas presents. When I was a child, the economy wasn’t as robust as it is now. Unlike many of today’s kids who are swamped with expensive presents, most children then had reason for smaller gift expectations. Still, brightly wrapped presents around the tree were pretty exciting. For many, major gifts came as a real sacrifice for parents and grandparents.

The teenage years consisted mostly of gifts of clothing and school supplies – necessary but not exciting. My journey into adulthood encountered a four-year detour in the form of a hitch in the Navy. Christmas was celebrated wherever I happened to be in December. Giving and receiving gifts weren’t front and center in my life.

Marriage changed everything, including my attitude toward gifts. Early on, gifts my wife and I exchanged were highlights. I guess the realization that we wanted to please each other allowed us to feel the true spirit of giving. I went from a childhood phase of counting the days until opening presents to counting them until my wife opened her gift from me.

The birth of children created a dramatic new phase in the joy of giving. Joy came from watching the excitement in our kids’ faces awaiting Santa’s arrival with gifts.

They’ve grown up and had children of their own. Christmas gifts received from family are still appreciated, but watching the family opening their presents is what it’s all about for me.

If I were a gambler, I would bet a bundle that most grandparents have gone through phases similar to mine.

It doesn’t take much to get me into the spirit of the season; so many things Christmas surround us.

Actually, it took only a trip to Branson for a Mannheim Steamroller Christmas concert to light up my Christmas fires. My goodness, they are good!

I cherish Christmas gift giving among family and friends, yuletide decorations, carols, holiday parties, sipping eggnog around the tree and singing “White Christmas.”

But, for me, the focal point of the season revolves around the angel, shepherds tending their flocks, the manger, Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus, and singing “Silent Night.”

To me, the authentic Christmas is the angelic message delivered to shepherds tending their flocks that night so long ago: “Behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will come to all people.”

Merry Christmas.

Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury University.[[In-content Ad]]