“It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Ev'rywhere you go;
Take a look in the five and ten glistening once again
With candy canes and silver lanes aglow.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas …”
Yes it certainly does look like that time of the year again, and going down the checklist …
Wet rainy mornings and cold stormy nights … tick
Brightly decorated and lighted
Lots and lots of shoppers thronging the Shopping Centres … tick
Year-end sales … tick
Carolers, street performers, dancing cartoon characters doing their bit to spread the cheer … tick
Salvation Army volunteers at every street corner … tick
E-mails and E-cards bearing Christmas wishes … tick
Yes, the familiar sights of the year-ending festivity. Like a well-rehearsed annual play that never fails to put on a show every year.
Christmas has become a truly universal (and commercial) event, enjoyed and adopted by many, regardless of religion or belief. So much that people now religiously make it a point to observe the day the only way they know, ie. Christmas Countdown, partying the night away, exchange gifts with loved ones, bbq with friends, etc. You don’t have to be Christian or even know the name of the town where baby Jesus was born to celebrate this occasion. It’s an open invitation, no cover charge, just come dressed to party.
The face of Christmas is changing. Even Santa is going out of fashioned. And at churches the Nativity Scene is taking a backseat to the Christmas tree.
Well, you can argue that at least the themes of peace, goodwill and charity are still closely linked to Christmas. So is the art of giving and sharing. People are spending, retailers are profiting; the economy can only look up with all the good vibe spreading around. Drop the religious association and you will have a celebration so universal and unifying that it will make a fitting end to the year. So why change a wining formula ?
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Is it?
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From a commercial point of view, if Christmas did not exist it would be necessary to invent it. ~Katharine Whitehorn
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