Filed under: Dr. Boyce Money
One of the things that I worry about when it comes to Christmas is the way many of us are caught up in the commercialized aspect of the holiday. Stress levels for millions of Americans rise to the point of causing significant health problems, all because we worry about whether or not we'll be able to buy our children's love. So, after the holidays are over, we are overweight from eating too much, and our credit cards are fat with debt accumulated from spending all of our time at the mall.
I'm not sure who wrote the law that says Jesus was born in Wal-Mart, but the reality is that Christmas doesn't have to be a holiday that focuses primarily on money. Instead, I personally challenge myself to avoid the temptation of thinking that Christmas means I need to spend, and instead push myself to the more significant objective of sharing true and meaningful love.
Personally, the holidays makes me think about the children in the world who don't have parents to care for them. I remember growing up and not understanding why my own father had abandoned me. I was fortunate enough to have a man who stepped into his place and never expected a thing in return. I didn't know that he was going out of his way and doing something extraordinary by allowing me to take his love for granted; he just gave me the luxury of being able to depend on him when I needed a dad.
I encourage everyone reading this article to go back to the fundamentals this holiday season and realize what it means to truly give. Find the lonely senior citizen or the child who carries pain in his/her heart and do something as nice for them as you would your own relative. Let's train our minds on the task of meaningful empathy, so that we can truly understand the plight of those who are less fortunate, especially children. While the rest of us are spending all of our time shopping, there are real human beings who long for the possibility that one day, someone might actually care about them.
Merry Christmas....I mean Happy Holidays......let's step away from the drug of mass consumption and start sharing true wealth. That's what our holidays are all about.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.