A Priceless Pearl

I confess that snow does not put me in the mood for Christmas Carols, pine trees and gifts. For some reason, this season of the year always comes a little too soon for me and it finds me an unwilling victim of the stress, the shopping, the slippery holiday traffic, and the general hubub. Speaking of hubub, I guess this might make me sound a little bit like a 'humbug', in the words of Mr. Scrooge. “'Tis the season” tends to make me grimace instead of smile, so I suppose I am a bit of a humbug. But I have my reasons.

For one thing, it seems that there is some confusion as to what and why we celebrate. I always thought that this was about the babe in the manger who came to save us. Maybe I'm just ultra-conservative, but seeing, hearing and in general being subjected to nearly two solid months of Santa, Elves, Reindeer (and Grandmothers being run over by them), goodies, toys, shopping, tinsel, trees, lights (as though we were in Las Vegas), and every gimmick for selling something that can be imagined by advertisers, it seems that what I thought was the real message has been skipped over in order to spend time on more interesting other stuff.

As a music lover also, I have a very difficult time during Christmas. I think I have heard every holiday song played and sung in every possible manner, some of which should never have been tried. This year, I began hearing those tunes even before Thanksgiving! From “Feliz Navidad” to “Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree” to “Silent Night” the grocery stores, shopping malls, dentist office and even parking lots are filled with the never ending stream of both the sacred and the profane, all mixed together in a big mish-mosh of sound. I love music, but at this time of year I am tempted to wear ear plugs most of the time. For me it's like having everything on a buffet table all mixed into one big bowl and served up together; the ham with the jello with the gravy with the fruit with the salad with the potatoes. Stir it up together, heat it all to the same temperature, and throw it at people as they walk by. Not a very satisfying meal.

Did I mention advertising? That wonderful little tool of business that reminds us on a daily, hourly basis just how many shopping days we have left, (as though we were being let to the gallows!) which items are on sale and we MUST buy BEFORE Christmas, OR ELSE our child will be disappointed, OH NO! They are also the people that incessantly drill into our heads how much we are SAVING by buying NOW. “Just think of the comfort and convenience you will have. Just think of the bargains. Just think how you'll hate yourself if you miss this one. This chance may never come again.” But hey, it's all in the 'spirit of Christmas' right? And what about all that kiddie advertising? Think how happy you will make little Bobby if you buy him this really amazing little gadget. Think how sad he will be when he has seen the add for three weeks and has told you how much he wants it, only to find out that you got him school clothes instead.

Do you see what I'm up against? But the REAL Christmas only lasts one day. Happy Birthday! A family dinner, a remembrance, a reenactment. Simple really. But we can't just do that. No, we must have weeks of gift buying (even if you can't afford it), trees, decorations, parties etc. It reminds me of a story I heard. A man found a priceless pearl. He wanted everyone to see how beautiful the pearl was. So he had a box built for the pearl. In order to be worthy of the pearl, the craftsman carefully carved the box with beautiful designs, inlaid it with gold and put tiny glass windows in it so that people could see the pearl through the box. To his dismay, the owner of the pearl found that when it was put on display in this manner, people stopped looking at the pearl and only remarked on the amazing design of the box.

We have just such a priceless pearl. Perhaps we should take care that the box we adorn this pearl with does not overshadow the value of it's contents, lest we forget the value of the pearl while looking at the box.