December is officially here. The Christmas season has been lingering since the day after the Halloween Adventure stores closed their doors.
Christmas has been on the horizon for months now, even to the point of overshadowing other holidays.
The King of Prussia mall takes overshadowing a bit literally, constructing their giant wicker reindeer weeks before Thanksgiving.
“I feel like we go from Halloween straight into the Christmas season,” Anna Scholl, a junior English and communication major, said. “It seems like people don’t even think about Thanksgiving anymore.”
It seems as though the blame for this sudden transition has been laid on malls and other shopping districts, where stores play holiday music on the first of November and sport signs claiming they possess the perfect gift.
“I don’t think the malls necessarily have the right to rule any one holiday as more important or less important than another,” Michele Fitzgerald, a junior early childhood and elementary education major, said.
Reverend Dr. Timothy Lent agrees.
“To me, Easter is the most important holiday because it is the culmination of Christmas,” Lent said.
“Theologically, Christmas cannot do without Easter nor can Easter do without Christmas. Both holidays are of vital importance to Christians and for the whole world.”
Materialism aside, Lent does see some good in starting the holidays earlier each year.
“The secular world starting the holiday season earlier each year is a great opportunity for people to become closer to Jesus and breakdown walls that otherwise separates them from each other,” Lent said.
As far as Christmas being seen as too materialistic, Lent disagrees.
“Christmas has not lost its meaning,” he said. “The celebration of it, like the celebration of other sacred and secular days of importance, has evolved over the centuries, which is quite normal.”
Despite the appearance of the pre-Thanksgiving holiday decorations in the very crowded mall, it still seems hard not to enjoy the Christmas season.
“Everything is going to be crowded but that is what makes the season, everyone is out buying gifts,” Mike Holland, a sophomore finance major, said. “It does seem to be about gift giving and receiving but I do love the holidays. They never cease to put me in a good mood, which is why I love Christmas.”
However, Fitzgerald still has mixed feelings about the holiday.
“I think the Christmas season is truly amazing. It is a time for family, friends and togetherness,” Fitzgerald said.
“However, I think it would be better if people realized the true meanings of Christmas and didn’t focus so much on presents. Showing that you love or care for someone through giving a gift to them is a nice gesture that has been blown out of proportion.”
