I went to Super Wal-Mart today, not because I wanted to go but because I had to shop for groceries and Wal-Mart offers the lowest prices around. Anyway, my quite grueling journey through acres and acres of aisles crowded with rude, uncivil, harried shoppers left me tired to the very core of my being, not just physically but spiritually. I guess it was because that trip so effectively drove home the reality of Christmas. 

Christmas has become the love child of big business. But why shouldn't big business love it? After all, Christmas is the most materialistic holiday of the year and fattens the coffers of businesses from shore to shining shore. Not that there aren't other holidays that encourage and perpetuate materialism, but Christmas, you must admit, certainly tops the list. The holiday is, after all, about shopping until you drop, just like it's all about getting, although we have deluded ourselves into believing it's about something else entirely.

Don't we say, "It's better to give than receive"? Don't we argue, “It’s the thought that counts"?  Oh, please, now is that really true? Sure, we walk around the malls and discount stores and specialty shops--until our feet are callused, our backs hurt, and our pocketbooks and wallets are empty--in a quest for the perfect gifts for friends and loved ones; but are we doing it in the true spirit of Christmas? Aren’t we really out there, braving the crowds and spending all our hard-earned money, because we expect the same in return? Don't we expect our friends and loved ones to brave the crowds and spend all their hard-earned money as well? We also expect reciprocity, meaning that if we don't receive a comparable gift--comparable in terms of monetary value, that is—we are going to be hurt and even offended. We will open that present, try to hide our disappointment, and think, "How dare this person give me such a pathetically inexpensive, tacky little gift when I gave him or her something tasteful and expensive"? And don't we vow that next year we will get our revenge. After all, far be it from us to ignore the true spirit of Christmas.