Yes Virginia, There Really IS A Mall

Having driven the icy Interstate, and surviving Boise traffic yet once again, I've finally finished my Christmas shopping.

As always, on the way home, I took a long deep sigh of relief, climbing the hill toward the rest area, with Boise gradually disappearing in my rear view mirror.

And I got to thinking about Christmas itself, and what it means. It's supposed to be a real time for peace, yet there's not a more rapid, crowded, stressful time anywhere on the calendar.

Running all over town, getting things for everyone on your list, getting the tree up, lights, outside decorations, getting the Christmas cards out, fighting the mobs in the store (especially if you procrastinated and waited until the last minute, (which I try NEVER to do), special-order things through catalogs far enough in advance, so it "gets there in time for Christmas"

Trying to find out what everybody might want, and if you don't get cooperation there, you just hit yet another store and buy 'em a gift card. Slipping around on ice & snow to make it all happen.

Making sure you didn't forget anybody on the list.

The "LIST"........

Now.........I am NOT a "Scrooge" or anything like that...I LOVE buying my wife things.....fact IS, I have flowers sent to her at work on a monthly basis and have done so since we were going together. I might have missed one or two months maybe, in the last 4 years...........and I really enjoy seeing the smiles on our grand daughters' little faces when we get them things not only on their birthdays, but on those "just because" occasions. And I don't hesitate to spend MONEY on ALL THREE of my gals.

So don't anybody misconstrue this, but I got to wondering recently, where this all this gift buying at Christmas time got started.

The wise men came to Bethlehem bringing gifts to the baby Jesus. It was the celebration of his birth..........

JESUS' birthday..........NOT ours. We give each other things for OUR birthdays, but why do we go NUTS and blow credit cards out of proportion, buying scads of stuff, fighting time, bad weather and crowds, to give EACH OTHER presents on JESUS' birthday?

Again.......I grew up with all this, as each of YOU have, and I'm ok with it.........I'm just curious how THAT portion of Christmas (the portion ALL of us have called ("too commercialized")...all got started.

Anybody know, or venture a guess?

And how many times do you hear people say........."Whew....thank goodness THAT'S over....now I can sit back and relax a little."

It really IS a stressful time...........or CAN be.

But.....It's JESUS' birthday.....not ours.......it is HE who should get the gifts, and what we all SHOULD give him IS IN FACT...........some "peace on Earth".........isn't gonna happen, of course...the people on this planet are too busy stealing, corrupting and killing each other.

Anyway.........not to get off on a tangent........but do ANY of you out there know why we all seem to go CRAZY every year, running around getting ulcers about what to get Uncle Pete, Grandma, Billy, Mary and Jane as we're "celebrating the birth of Jesus?"

Anybody know?