So this is Christmas, and what have you done, another year over, a new one just begun. And so this is Christmas, I hope you have fun, the near and the dear ones, the old and the young.
A very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fears.
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) – John Lennon/ Yoko Ono 1971
Christmas music starts on the radio in November, and pretty much continues to the end of the year. It can be enough to drive you insane.
But, along with any Christmas tune by Frank and Dino, the Lennon/Ono collaboration that became Happy Xmas is one of those Christmas songs that I could listen to repeatedly without getting sick of it.
It’s just a shame that its message is as relevant today as it was in 1971. A world without war to celebrate Christmas during our lifetimes? Not likely.
Post-Christmas, some other thoughts running around in my head:
I’m torn about gifts – While I think that my kids (and my wife and I) got far too many gifts again this year, fighting it may not be fair, and is probably a lost cause anyway. It’s a perfect right of their grandparents to spoil them as they see fit. So they get multitudes of gifts.
I’ll probably do the same thing when I’m a grandfather. I can’t bitch about the gift giving methods of anyone else when I know future Joe could be just as guilty.
As much as I like to complain about the lack of spirituality around the Christmas holiday, there wasn’t a seat to be had at the church where I attended Mass. In fact, there wasn’t much standing room, either. Elbow to elbow.
The fact that the church was packed reminded me of Christmas celebrations in past years, when I attended Mass with my grandparents and other family members. In the days when going to church was an essential activity in late December. That’s old school stuff that has a place here in 2011.
Next week, there will be plenty of available space. Next week, I’ll be able to sit if I want to.
Avoiding advertising is nearly impossible – The ramping up of ads proclaiming the latest and greatest discounts for Christmas sales is more intense than ever. To avoid it altogether is a tall order that’s hard to achieve. Materialism is front and center and it all reeks of receive, receive, receive. If you can get through the entire season without being tempted to spend more money than you actually have, congratulations.
And on that note…
The American economy is far too dependent on holiday shopping – A large part of our economy is based on consumer spending. What a house of cards. I can understand the fortunes of a retail chain bouncing up and down with the sales numbers, but…
Consumer confidence?
The stock market?
Crazy stuff. Thankfully, the average consumer was more than willing to put themselves into hock this holiday season to help out the economy. It was said that Americans were suffering from “frugal fatigue”, and their inclination was to spend their way out of it, to make themselves feel better.
Ho ho ho…
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Joe DeGiorgio 
Joe: I totally agree with you about the song…..I have to say it is my all-time favorite at this time of the year; and, as you so aptly mentioned, it is all too relevant still. How sad that it is. Another great article—-keep them coming~ Happy New Year!!!
Hope your holidays were good, Gail…I love the song because of the range of emotion it can invoke: it can make you feel sad and hopeful at the same time. Lennon and the Beatles weren’t necessarily famous for Christmas songs, but he certainly had a home run with this one. As long as I celebrate Christmas, I hope this song is always on regular radio rotation…