Dear Editor:
The United States is experiencing another Christmas season. As it is expected of a country under a free market economy, business is expected to flourish, while the media advertises many articles on sale, seeking to attract buyers. Buyers on the other hand, shop not only for the most economical, but also for the best gifts among the most economical, out of concern for their loved ones.
The day after Thanksgiving is considered the beginning of the Christmas season, and I visited the Newport Centre Mall on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, attracted by a Friday-Saturday sale advertised by a store. The ad showed a man’s jacket which original price was $300, on sale for $99.99. As I had feared, they had all been sold out on Friday, and the store was ordering others of a lower quality for the same price as a replacement.
After discussing the matter with a sales clerk, and then with the store manager, the clerk brought out one of the advertised jackets, saying that he had found it in the storeroom. I noticed however that it was a size smaller than the one I needed. At the manager’s suggestion, I placed the replacement garment on hold (in case the other one did not fit) to be picked up within 24 hours, taking the other one home for my husband to try on. Thank God that it did fit, that I did not have to go back to the store for an exchange, and that I was able to keep the best jacket. I do regret that my husband had to see this gift before Christmas Day.
Christmas is the celebration of Jesus Christ’s birthday, and the gifts we give to others should be offered in His name, even though we might not always be successful on getting the best we wish to buy, or what the receiver would like to get. Actually, Christmas should remind us that the gift that is always right for everyone is God’s gift to us. That is His son Jesus. That gift is heaven sent, needed, sacrificial, perfect, precious. God wrapped His special present to us in human flesh so that we might know Him and identify with Him. May our Christmas be meaningful, thoughtful and merry.
Clara Zamojski