Christmas is a wonderful time full of charity, giving and eggnog, but I often wonder about all that from the perspective as a Christian. It's seen as a Christian holiday and there's always talk about "putting Christ in Christmas", but I'm barely seeing Him. You'll often hear about the "spirit of the season" and while there's nothing wrong with being mindful about the vibe we put out during the holiday season, it's also good to think about whether or not that's even the vibe at all. As a sort of tldr; despite mentioning my faith, I would say that the "spirit" of the season isn't very Christian. It's a bit confusing to me as to why it's seen as a Christian holiday in the first place, but that's another point in itself. My point here is to analyze what the season of Christmas means to me personally, my observations leading up to Christmas itself, and my thoughts on what I think Christmas should be about.

I'd say one word that comes to mind when I think of Christmas, other than eggnog, is: Presents, and from what I can see, it seems to be on most others' minds as well. All of a sudden people become interested in what they should be getting for Christmas, how much they'll be getting, and the sales before and after Christmas to get more stuff. I'm not innocent of this at all, considering Christmas was typically the only time I could ever hope to get video games growing up. Even now, I'll be thinking if it'd be cool financially for me to take advantage of the sales or not. Going off of experience and observation, Christmas is more about getting than giving, with the giving aspect being merely a direct consequence from what's gotten.

Being an idealist, I really vibed with the Christmas stories where happiness was a tangible gift that anybody, not just Santa, could provide by means of toys, songs and eggnog. It was a nice thought that there was an entire season to do such good, until I thought about the situation a little more. Why is such a good thing secluded to just a season? Growing up as a Christian presented that question to me. Isn't that, or at the very least something similar, what we're called to do as Christians all throughout our lives?

I do think Christmas should be a sort of season of giving, considering there's nothing wrong with that sentiment and it's not like our faith will make the nice deals go away, but I think a season of reflection would be better. Was giving and serving on our minds as we went through the year? I think that should be the main question on our minds in this season. Whatever the spirit of Christmas even is, with all the happiness, cheer, thanksgiving, fellowship, and eggnog these things should be things we live for rather than placed at the end of the year. Whether you're Christian or not, if you vibe with the ideal of the Christmas spirit I suggest keeping it on your mind as you go into the next year. Simply spreading good will surely be a great new years resolution.