It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Soon we’ll be hearing jolly holiday tunes on the radio, the aromas of Christmas trees and cookies baking in the oven will taunt our appetites. The twinkle lights go up three weeks before and come down sometime in April.

But what is Christmas? Is it really just a flashy holiday where everyone gathers around to eat and open gifts?

The meaning of Christmas seems to be lost in the shuffle between government spending and tabloid superstardom.

Are there children who live day by day in their harsh. limited reality and still believe in Santa Claus? Certainly not with mind-haunting questions like “How will Santa find little Timmy’s house through all that smog?” or “Does little Timmy even have a home?” Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer could just be the product of a horrible radiation experiment.

The holidays should be a time for families to enjoy each other’s company, but Christmas has been reduced to cheesy commercialization. The cheer and jollity once full of realism, just seems too artificial. The world has modernized too much for old beliefs.

What can be done? Sadly, there seems to be no solution. Santa’s little elves have been laid off thanks to bigger, faster machines and the list of who’s been bad and good is sitting in WordPerfect.

Oh well, at least I’m getting cool presents