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Page 3

A holiday season

View From a Student

Published in The Burlington Post on Dec 23, 2007

When I hear the word Christmas I first think of presents, decorations and snow.

 

In my house at Christmas, we set up a tree with bright lights and ornaments and leave our stockings at the fire place. My brother and I always wake up really early on Christmas morning and sneak into our parents' room, eager to open presents.

 

Christmas with my family means a lot to me. When I see the look on people's faces when they opened the gift that I picked out, it reminds me that Christmas isn't about the fancy tree or the decorations, but the love we have for each other.

 

On a religious side, I come from a family that has been Christian for many generations. As one of the Christian religions we believe in the Christmas story. Mary and Joseph came to Bethlehem, but because there was no room in the inn, Mary gave birth to baby Jesus in a stable. Three Wise Men followed a star bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, gifts fit for a king. This is why we give presents, to honour each other and to honour the birth of Christ.

 

I decided to learn about different holidays that people celebrate at Christmas time. Kwanzaa is an African-American festival of lights, when people give gifts to each other. Hanukkah is a Jewish festival of lights in late November to late December. It lasts eight nights and people exchange presents. Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha in December. People give presents to the poor as well as each other. This year they celebrate it in December.

 

Finally, Christmas is a time when people give and receive gifts from under the Christmas tree. Trees are decorated with lights and ornaments.

 

All these celebrations have something in common. They all feature gift giving, yet none of these holidays is truly about the gifts. Presents may seem materialistic and make us seem greedy. My family, like many others, try to give to charities such as the Tree of Hope at our church and the Salvation Army at school. I feel privileged that I have so much, but I will continue to give presents to my family.

 

What I've learned is gifts are just the human way of saying "I love you" which is what all of these celebrations are really about and even though we have different religions we have similar ways to celebrate.

 

by Kathleen Anderson     

 Gr. 8, Florence Meares P.S.