When most Americans think of Christmas, they associate it with gift-giving and characters like Santa Claus or Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, but for senior Joshua Mei, the true essence of Christmas is the celebration of Jesus Christ’s life.

 Mei does not celebrate Christmas in the consumerism sense, but instead, has more ties to the religious aspects of the holiday. “We used to do decorations and stuff, but then we’ve gotten lazy the last couple years,” Mei said. “[At church] we make dumplings and it’s pretty fun, it’s a good community thing.” 

Making dumplings at church is a tradition Mei looks forward to each year. “The whole church comes to make dumplings and we eat dumplings together,” he said. “Our church decorates, but we don’t have decorations [at his house].”

Although decorations are a good way to get into the holiday spirit, Mei believes that they are not necessary to celebrate the holiday. “I think that the essence of Christmas is more than just decorations, so we just skip that part of it,” he said. 

Christmas has an important impact on America from a consumerist standpoint, but Mei wants people to think about it as more than just a holiday about gift-giving and receiving. “Christmas clearly has a big impact on American culture, but especially to me, from a religious standpoint it’s a lot more than that,” Mei said. “It’s a celebration of Christianity and is a part of our faith,” he said. 

While Mei mostly celebrates Christmas from a religious perspective, he does appreciate the other aspects of it. “I think it’s cool that it has become so ingrained in the culture,” he said. “It has deviated so far from what Christmas actually is so that now it’s kind of just a part of our consumer society.” Despite this, he still finds joy in Christmas traditions like exchanging gifts. “I like giving and getting presents but it’s important to keep in mind the actual root of Christmas,” Mei said.

Mei’s favorite part of Christmas is celebrating his faith and it’s history. “I like praising the Lord, Jesus is king.”