We’ve entered the Holiday Season, a fact you can’t possibly be unaware of since it started around Halloween this year. Too early we saw commercials on TV and heard Christmas music while shopping. Thanksgiving was nearly overlooked. I know our society is based on shopping, and that retailers are worried we won’t spend enough, but can’t we at least put a veneer of meaning to the season?

In watching, and listening to what passes for news lately, we’ve heard many reports that people think they will spend less money on gifts this year. To counteract this we have stores opening earlier than ever for Black Friday. Isn’t 6:00 a.m. early enough? I saw ads for stores opening at 4:00 and discount malls opening at midnight. Maybe this is exciting for people who really love to shop, but I just don’t get it.

We’ve heard the criticism of getting caught up in the trappings of Christmas and the reminder to keep Christ in Christmas for as long as I can remember. Commercialism is not new, but I’ve seen a few of the commercials this year that I think go over the line. One of them suggests that the way to bring the family together is to buy a big flat-screen TV. Doesn’t say anything about what to watch, just make sure it’s really big. Another one shows a woman holding a large package that she’s anxious to open. Her husband reminds her that she can’t open it ’til they come home from Grandma’s. Next scene shows the family in the car pulling up to Grandma’s house. She’s on the porch waving, but without getting out of the car they decide they’ve spent enough time there and drive away. Gift is more important that Grandma? Then there’s a nasty set of commercials that tell us it’s important to use a debit card to pay for stuff, since using cash or checks causes the clockwork-like movement of the stores to crash to an embarrassing halt.

I’ve said before in this column that I like Christmas. I like the shopping and wrapping gifts. I enjoy Christmas music. I love decorating the house. Each year we participate in a Christmas Eve candle lighting service and get together with family. I’m not knocking Christmas. I think, though, that it’s easy for the whole thing to turn into an empty, exhausting effort. This tendency is reinforced by the continual message we get that it’s all about the material end of it.

We can decide whether this season will be a big energy drain or if it will be a time of great meaning. We can choose to be really present when with our loved ones and know how important they are to us, and how lucky we are. We can dedicate ourselves or renew our dedication to being a source for peace in the world. We can give money, time, or goods to those less fortunate, and we can donate some of what we have to help the earth. This time of year has to do with light, whether it’s the birth of the one who would be known as the light of the world, the longest night of the year passing with the promise that light will return, or the miracle of a day’s worth of lamp oil lasting for eight. We can take time each day to honor the light that we are and the powerful agents for good we can be.