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Student Union
 Rachel Manuel |
Remember the reasons
we have Christmas cheerChristmas is the most eagerly anticipated holiday of the year. Or is it, with the endless lines at the shopping malls, babies wailing on Santa's lap and a mile-long list of gifts to get for relatives, friends, neighbors and co-workers?
For many people, Christmas becomes the season of stress as families with young children rummage for the best tree, teens worry about the perfect gift for friends, shoppers circle in vain for parking spaces and hordes of people wrestle over rolls of wrapping paper and Scotch tape.
With people camped out at Wal-Mart hours before the opening hour to be first in line to get that $29 DVD player and the local KayBee store becoming a toy-land riot as parents with trash-size bags fight over Easybake Ovens and the latest Barbie, Christmas means stress to many.
STAR-BULLETIN / 1997
Casey Fox peeks over her songbook as the Girl Scouts Kaahumanu Service Unit sings Christmas carols at Pearlridge Shopping Center.
Even after Christmas and its short-lived joy of ripping gifts open are over, the stress is not. The mound of festive wrappings has to be thrown away, the dry and deteriorating tree must be taken to be recycled and gifts from well-meaning friends have to be returned or exchanged.
During these holiday weeks, Christmas may not seem like the much-needed relaxing celebration for which we've been waiting. It's also not as merry with our empty wallets! Yet, what's Christmas without some commercialism? Christmas would be dull if not for the gifts, the decorations and the celebrations. They add to the festivities of the season.
But commercialism shouldn't be the center of the season, overshadowing the more important reasons to celebrate Christmas: the birth of Jesus, time to spend with loved ones and the opportunity to be generous toward others.
People are filled with the Christmas spirit -- even the Scrooges. The generosity and kindness shown to strangers can be overwhelming and often is seen in the increased number of food, clothing and toy drives, and other charitable events. People are more willing to offer help at this time of year. Even those who usually seem stingy can be seen donating money to enthusiastic volunteers dressed as Santa Claus or lending a helping hand at a homeless shelter.
Indeed, even Scrooge himself was able to change.
Seeing families around the island decorate their lawns and homes for the season can put all of us into the Christmas spirit. In the midst of knocking into each other at the crowded malls, people are humming "Mele Kalikimaka." Children along parade routes are mumbling words they know to Christmas songs as they watch the marching bands and twirling flags in wonderment while others squeal with delight at their first glimpse of Santa and his elves.
Instead of focusing on the pandemonium of Christmas, let us focus on the joy and merriment that it brings: the much-needed break from school and work; seeing family members we haven't seen in a year; that warm feeling we get from spending time with friends; and especially that uplifting feeling of giving selflessly to others as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, whose impact will be seen in every twinkling light.
Christmas truly is "the most wonderful time of the year."
Rachel Manuel is a senior at Sacred Hearts Academy.
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