SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA– It’s that time of the year again when the whole world go nuts buying presents for everyone they love. Even the ones they don’t love. Then after Christmas they spend the whole year paying off credit card debts.
Do you ever wonder if it’s worth it? All that debt for so much presents that, admittedly, end up being forgotten after a while. Or end up in the rubbish — broken and discarded, adding to the mounting pile of environmental poison.
I’m not saying presents aren’t a big part of Christmas because they are. I remember being so obsessed with my double Christmas/birthday present each year (because my birthday is on Christmas day). But as you get older, you realise the things that are important to you aren’t material things.
That new iWatch that just came out? I could save up for that if I really wanted to instead of asking for it for Christmas. Books? Clothes? Handbags? I could buy them when I need them. Jewelry? I have no use for them. I’d rather buy the handmade ones that help local businesses.
If I were asked what would be on my Christmas list this year, there is only one I could think of.
Airfare tickets to see my family in Mindanao. But they’re too expensive so I will have to save up for next year.
What I want is to be with family. To spend this time of the year with the people I care about.
But since there is nothing else I really want, and hubby wanted to know what I really want, I just wrote Jamie Oliver’s latest cookbook on my list. At least it has healthy recipes.
My daughter is only seven and she has started asking about the meaning of Christmas. Her scripture class told her about Jesus’ story and his birth in the manger — the same story I grew up with as a child in the Philippines. But I don’t want to tell her that Christmas is all about Jesus because there are people in Australia who don’t share the same beliefs. It opens up a whole can of complicated discussions for such a young age.
So instead I tell her that Christmas is a time of kindness. Not presents. Not religion. Not even Santa Claus. It’s a time when people should be kind to one another. I say ‘should’ because there are still dickheads among us who don’t believe in kindness.
If you really strip it down, you will see that what people really want for Christmas is to share a feast with their loved ones. And if you can make a difference in another person’s life this year, why not help the less fortunate ones share a feast with their loved ones by donating to charity.
Kindness. It comes back tenfold. And it doesn’t come with credit card debt.
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Author’s email: kmlevis@gmail.com
