This Christmas, give to those who need rather than want

Every year, department stores and corporations drill consumers with deals on material items. Subsequently, the hunt for the best deal overshadows giving to those in need.

Black Friday weekend, the three days after Thanksgiving, mark the start of the Christmas gift-buying onslaught.

According to the National Retail Federation, Black Friday weekend of 2012 brought out 89 million people to stores nationwide. More than $59 billion poured out of consumers’ pockets that weekend alone.

For what? The panini maker that will sit on a shelf? The “innovated” iPhone from Apple that will soon be outdated?

To think people would rather risk their lives on the way to the electronics section rather than serve food or give to the needy alarms.

Instead of buying the iPhone 5 for someone who already owns the iPhone 4, consider buying a coat for someone who cannot afford one. Consider serving food in soup kitchens to those who have no idea when or where their next meal will be.

Whether money or time becomes donated, either act will go much further than acquiring the latest and greatest gadget.

Money spent on material goods for either you or others who do not need anything more becomes money wasted. Put that money toward something that will carry meaning.

You won’t find the meaning of Christmas by sifting through the kitchen appliances section. The meaning of Christmas won’t be under a tree in the living room. The meaning of Christmas won’t be found as you sit on the couch, or as you open material goods on Christmas morning.

People need to find the true meaning before the commercialism crusades destroy what the holiday means. If people forget the holiday means giving to the less fortunate and helping others, people will forget how to feel.

What will become of society if people continue to be drawn toward material items like flies to a carcass? The less fortunate will be left to suffer while those who have money to spend will spend on needless items.

Go out and capture the meaning of the holiday. You’ll find that giving to those in need beats the feeling of giving to those who want.

This year, no matter your age, make a Christmas list. Write down everything you lust for. Then make another list of everything you appreciate in your life. List everything from the clothes on your back, the food in your stomach, and the roof over your head.

Now think about people who can’t put anything like that on their lists. How you interpret Christmas from now on will change.