It’s Christmas week and compared to the simplicity of the holiday I once knew. The question is…what do you want most for Christmas?
Before someone writes to cancel me for an opinion about something that isn’t sports on a sports page..that there’s no place for a personal observation about the most holy of seasons when there’s football to be written…let me share that I’m not alone in my frustration that Christmas for the sake of peace, good will, and less being more is not only old-fashioned, but the world won’t have it.
And all you have to do…is watch television.
Watch it and you’ll see what Madison Avenue wants desperately for you to believe – how you never see the simple act of enjoying time with a neighbor next door. Unless, that is, your neighbor is somehow different and unloved by the hateful underbelly of America.
For instance, there cannot be a commercial that doesn’t depict every nationality imaginable in a backyard gathering or someone’s kitchen. And that kitchen is never a ramshackled mess. The message is that everyone deserves nothing short of the best.
You can’t buy a Chevy Vega anymore. Instead, you see Mercedes and BMWs being driven by people who would still be driving Chevy Vegas if they were available. Something to dream about, apparently, until the finance company comes to repossess.
What does a man smell like? Well, apparently it’s a fragrance called Gravite’, and you’re in luck if you find yourself in a roomful of blindfolded women wearing the little black dress. The commercial is a lie, of course, because most people still like the smell of soap and water. You never see a commercial that says…why don’t you take a bath?
And this goes on and on, and on. It’s never good enough to be who you are, to buy what you can afford…or enjoy the people you simply trust and know.
There can be no contentment and happiness in your community, in your town, and in your mind as long as someone is missing. There must be guilt!
There can be no appreciation for the verse that reminds us…”Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalms, 46:10). Therein lies the true contentment, not only at Christmas, but the rest of the year, as well. It’s nice to have the bright lights, but you don’t need them. It’s OK to have a houseful of people, but you don’t have to. And you don’t need Netflix, whose ads are so long and confusing you leave the room to avoid them.
Seriously, I’m not smart enough to watch television anymore, nor can I afford it. The average cable bill now is $200 a month, and that’s limiting, because the average household in America spends over $3,000 a year for television, internet, and all the streaming services. Even with the best cable, you can’t watch Thursday Night Football unless you buy an Amazon Prime subscription, too.
And if you have it all, you can’t figure out how to find it. I’m a one remote control man, and when we bought a new TV this fall there were suddenly three remotes on the table in front of the couch. Delightfully dumb, I guess, I HAD to call my neighbor to figure out how to get off Samsung Movie Channel and how to find ESPN. Then I realized…this is why you have to have a roomful of every kind possible because someone will know how to change the channel.
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA and Ohio State sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
So what I saw last week was just how inadequate I am because I don’t know enough people who aren’t like me…that I don’t spend enough on cars, and entertainment, and cologne that I can’t afford. And naive to believe that the greatest gift of all is something you can’t make money on, unless you’re Joel Osteen.
There is an essay by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, from the 19th century, who wrote “to avoid the superstition and too much revelry, rather to focus on the one great true gift of the season.” He said nothing about iPhones, or diversification, or loving a neighbor that’s different from the one you cherish every day. There was nothing about blindfolded models in a black dress sniffing for men.
If you take the time to read Galatians 1:8-9, it really does make it easier to see yourself in the correct context of the season. And by the way, that was written long before contemporary logic, and it will survive to rule this day.
I appreciate the direction, and I now don’t feel so dumb. And we all at least say that’s what we believe – what people say they want most at Christmas, while afraid to call it by name.
And then…they turn on Netflix.
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