Dialogue: Message lost in seasonal rush

One week to go until Christmas and stress levels are rising. For some weeks now, diaries have been choked with all sorts of end-of-year festivities.

There is dad's work do, mum's work do, street parties and the hospitality of friends you haven't seen all year but who choose the busiest week of the year to invite you round for casual drinks.

Then there are the kids' diaries to factor in, with high school, primary and preschool events for those unlucky families with kids spanning three life stages, not to mention spin-off celebrations for their many extra-curricular activities.

And let's not forget those pesky Sagittarians who refuse to let their birthdays slide by without a party, and pushy Capricorns who inconveniently insist on an early birthday bash for fear of missing out. My sister-in-law even decided to shoehorn in her wedding.

Everyone loves Christmas Day but somehow we manage to make the run-up to it so hard for ourselves. Years ago, when life was lived at a more steady-as-she-goes pace, the momentum built slowly and surely to an exciting crescendo on Christmas Day when the kids jumped into mum's and dad's bed.

Now many people risk celebration-overload, peaking too early and leaving them strung out by the 25th. For some reason, the modern Christmas has been complicated to the extent that it's not so much fun but just plain exhausting.

Is Christmas just another deadline? We've been programmed to robotically power through the obligations, not taking the time to stop to reflect why we are actually doing them.

We tick off our lists, be it the overseas Christmas cards, local Christmas cards, Christmas e-mails, Christmas presents, visiting friends and relatives and so forth. And each step is punctuated with that overused Christmas phrase - "Great, I've got those out of the way."

These days, celebrating Christmas can often seem less about the significance of the event and more about closing off the end of the calendar year. How many events have you been to where there is little reference to anything Christmassy?

For many people, it's a time of parties, pigging out and presents - all heralding a few days off work. Thus, greeting cards are often devoid of any traditional theme. I was sent a card featuring a bear complaining of a sore stomach. Admittedly, my daughter's advent calendar has a Barbie-girls-are-best theme and is studded with chocolates and illustrations of shoes and nail polish. (They couldn't even be bothered putting Barbie in a Santa hat.)

So what is Christmas about now? Some cynics say it's purely a retail event. We are offered every Christmas item imaginable to relieve us of $3 here and $5 there. Last week I picked up some fake snow, a washing-line device for Christmas cards, and a money card designed to house cash for when you're giving money.

Some say Christmas is for the children. But what are we teaching kids? While schools may teach the meaning of Christmas, not only are some phasing out the Christianity angle by, for instance, discouraging Christmas carols being sung, but these traditional messages are not being reinforced in the home.

Among many families, the theme is firmly about what they are going to receive versus what they are going to give. And it's not as if these kids have been deprived through the year. I often wonder how many parents can help kids to reconcile the link between baby Jesus in the manger on one hand, and Santa bearing gifts coming down the chimney on the other. (I wonder if their confusion will lead to an interpretation similar to a small Japanese village whose Christmas parade apparently includes an effigy of Santa nailed to the cross.)

As an increasing number of people turn away from church-going Christianity in favour of either a more blanket-approach to spirituality through new ageism or, indeed, nothing at all, the symbolic nature of Christmas is being lost in a quagmire of pre-Christmas nonsense.

Whatever our spiritual beliefs, as we get caught up in the madness of a modern Christmas fewer people are focusing their activities on any thought or concept. They merely celebrate the celebrations versus the sentiment behind it.

As we run about ordering hams, synchronising schedules and squeezing in just one more drinks party, we need to be reminded of one message - peace on Earth. And maybe spend a minute reflecting on the concept of goodwill to all men, not just the ones we know.