Robert Scribner is a senior majoring in business. He can be contacted at [email protected].As yet another thrilling cross-country season comes to a finish, I find myself and my school overwhelmed with bittersweet emotion.
On one hand, the student body is temporarily resigned to the typical, yet agonizing withdrawal pangs for the euphoric excitement provided only by watching a footrace, or by doing ecstasy.
On the other hand, we can all take solace in the fact that the holidays are just around the corner. Such ambivalence is normal; I am sure of it. It’s just that time of year.
Luckily, these holidays are justifiably comforting to our spirits. On their own, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve might not be quite enough to quell our post-post-season angst, but together they always do the trick. Some speculate that this is why these special days are positioned on the calendar as they are. But that is neither here nor there, so let’s move on.
Though I do enjoy Thanksgiving, it is not my focus here. In terms of cuisine and gregariousness, it is just a miniature version of Christmas.
I might even go as far as to say that the extended vacation of Christmas aggregates a larger amount of actual giving of thanks, rendering Thanksgiving somewhat inane.
And New Year’s Eve is nice, but it doesn’t really stand alone either.
That leaves us with Christmas. And since I’m already hearing Christmas music in shopping malls, I realized that it’s probably time to start talking about it.
People are always discussing the true meaning of Christmas, the reason for the season. While I believe these kind folks have good intentions, I have always felt a need to clarify the accurate nature of the holiday. First, allow me to educate you with some pertinent background information – a history lesson, if you will.
Christmas celebrates the birth of the son of the Christian deity. His name is Jesus, and He was born more than one billion years ago. His last name is Christ, and I don’t know His middle name. He was sent to the planet Earth so that He could die, so that we could live.
God’s idea was that the people He invented had some minor character flaws, and that those little foibles sometimes made Him sad or mad. So Jesus was born on Dec. 25, and later on, He died a few days before Easter. He woke up again, and He then flew off into outer space. But that is neither here nor there. Onward.
Anyway, the point is that Jesus was selfless. He was a rebel altruist, and He gave up his life on the planet so that God would be less sad. That was his present for God. And this brings me to the true meaning of Christmas.
Here it is: Christmas is all about exchanging gifts.
It is about purchasing things, wrapping the things, identifying yourself on small cards, taping the cards to the wrapped things and finally, giving the wrapped things to other people. This is the reason for the season, people.
So what would Jesus do? He would probably buy you an Xbox.