When it gets to this time of year, I always find myself contemplative about the holidays. I really try to enjoy the spirit of Christmas. I love that people find it a time to give of themselves, either in gifts or services to others. There's always a spike in contributions to charities and the needy. It seems like for a few weeks, everyone really does care about their neighbor, people really do want peace on earth and goodwill toward men.

But that's only if you look at Christmas through a narrow scope. When you look at Christmas in the broad sense, it ends up being a nightmare. People are so stressed about buying everyone on their list a gift. And it's not always about getting someone something the need or would enjoy because you love them, it turns into an obligation to get people something, anything. You go to the store and they have shelves of neat little gadgets and gifts that have little or no purpose except to fill the wrapping paper of an imperative gift.

The consumerism surrounding Christmas is astounding. The stores are packed from Thanksgiving until Christmas day. People buy and buy and buy, spending hundreds and thousands of dollars on these obligatory gifts, while making sure to through a little bit of change in the red bucket on their way out. And when you go to the stores, they're saturated with stressful ranting and flustered glances, frantic scattering. There are even fights (and this year deaths) in order to save a few bucks on the "perfect" gift.

I think it's sad and ironic that what is meant to be a celebration of Christ's birth has turned into something I believe He would just shake His head at. It's strange that we celebrate God's son, who came to this earth and gave up everything, by throwing money at temporary and ultimately useless goods.

But the reality is, for most of us, Christmas is not about celebrating His birth and His life. We may say it is, we may sing songs about it, we might go to church because of it. But we make it an undertone to our celebration. We've made a whore out of Christmas.

I'm not going to pretend like I'm the exception because I would be a liar. I feel just as stuck in our tradition of Christmas as anyone else. I feel obligated to buy gifts for people I know, maybe people I don't want to buy gifts for. I feel pressured to get the perfect gift. But at the same time, I'm trying not to make gift exchanging the focus point of my celebration. Honestly, if I went without giving or receiving a single gift on Christmas, I would be just as happy, if not more, just celebrating the fact that God loves me so much that He came to earth to die a horrible death in place of me. What gift could ever compete with that?

A couple years ago, I was feeling really conflicted about Christmas. I wrote a song about how I felt. I've only played it for people a couple times because it often gets a pretty depressing reactions, though that is not at all my intention. My own mother told me it made her feel bad for buying me any presents. Here are the lyrics:

'Tis the Treason

Verse 1
The snowflake falls
Finds a place on my cheek
The coldness slices through me
So bitter, so bleak

But this torturous weather
Brings a momentous time
When trees live indoors
And bells will chime

Carols are sung
Void of all their worth
And a red suited man
Overshadows Your birth

Chorus
It's Christmas time
Time to buy your happiness
Wait for gifts to weaken
Your feelings of loneliness

So light up the tree
And hang up the socks
Raise your spirits
Increase their stocks

As the white falls
And the greens fly
I won't forget that You
Were born to one day die

To die for me

Verse 2
Go and buy your love
Something that won't fail
Luckily for you
This week it's on sale

Toys and candy canes
Ugly hats and shirts
The more you spend
The less your pride hurts

Smiles awaken
While hearts become numb
Stop and see what
This holy day has become

Chorus

Verse 3
I'll remember the reason
You became so real
To save me from myself
Allow my soul to heal

You've given me a gift
No other can compare
Eternal life with You
A gift that I can share

All I want this Christmas
Is to be with You
To release this grasp
Leave them out of view

Chorus