It was a most interesting discussion we had at dinner that evening. There were six of us. Christmas was approaching, and one of our main topics of conversation related to children and the effect television advertising had on their concept of, and their expectations from, the Christmas season, particularly in relation to gifts.
One of the party spoke from her experience as a school principal. Over the years she had seen how unsupervised television viewing by children tended to give them a distorted picture of what Christmas is all about. Advertising impressed them with the feeling that Christmas centers on their getting material gifts—the more costly the better! She said that children can be left with the impression that unless they get certain "things," they are worse off than their friends. Unless they receive what the advertisements tell them they should have, Christmas can be a disappointment for them.
What does such manipulation of the child's thought about Christmas gifts have to do with the real message of Christmas? Nothing, because Christmas is the very reverse. It has nothing to do with manipulation of thought focused on matter, leading to dissatisfaction. The story of the Bethlehem babe points to the beauty and the simplicity of the way the Christ, the pure power of Truth in action, brings gifts of healing and freedom to every one of us. The well-loved Christmas story speaks to us of the ever-availability of the Christ, the living power of Principle, dawning on human consciousness.
