sleeping late
This is the first day in weeks...maybe months...that I have nothing going on. I don't think I realized quite how tired I was until I took an almost 5 hour nap yesterday and still slept for about 11 hours last night. I'm feeling remarkably more well rested now, but I'm still looking forward to a day devoted to all the things I never seem to get done.
There is laundry to be folded and put away. Letters to write. An application to fill out. Plans to be made. Dinner to be cooked. Baking to be done. Presents to be wrapped (the irony of that statement is that I have yet to go Christmas shopping).
Today will be restful...I might not even get out of my sweats. Because tomorrow will start the last push of the holiday season before Christmas is here. There will be many pies to be made, and many long hours of work to be enjoyed.
I had a revelation last week in church. My pastor has been delivering a sermon series about the "Advent Conspiracy" and talking about how much Americans spend on Christmas each year. The main four points of this series are 1)Spend Less 2)Give More 3)Worship Fully 4)Love Well. It's such a great series, and it has certainly given me a lot of food for thought this holiday season.
Anyway...my revelation. In American society over the last several years there has been a very marked move toward all things politically correct. We can no longer say Merry Christmas. It's Happy Holidays. We can no longer have a Christmas tree alone. We must have a tree and a menorah and a symbol of Kwanzaa. And the list goes on. It's almost like society has moved as far away from Christmas as they can without actually getting rid of the holiday altogether.
I started thinking about that, and I suddenly realized that we literally cannot get rid of Christmas. Why? Because we can't afford to get rid of Christmas. Businesses need the income that the Christmas season brings in so that they can make their business float for another year. Does the term Black Friday ring a bell? The start to the Christmas season is called Black Friday because it is the day out of the entire year that causes stores to go from being in the red to in the black. That's the accounting way of saying that they go from being in debt to being in profit. Like I said...our society cannot afford to get rid of Christmas.
And since they can't get rid of it, they strive simply to make it as secular as possible. We take away all the meaning and simple loveliness of the holiday by making it all about presents and new toys and how much we are expected to spend on whom. We forget that which truly matters about this season. Jesus gets lost in the piles of presents under the tree and the plates of fattening food on the table.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with giving gifts and with celebrating with big family meals. I believe those are things that make holidays special. What I am saying is that those things shouldn't be our focus. Those things should point us toward the meaning behind them. We give gifts because of the most precious gift we have been given. We sit and fellowship with each other because that's what Christ did.
I would much rather celebrate with a circle of friends and family around me than with the biggest pile of presents. I would rather soak up precious moments spent with those people who mean the most to me than with the latest toy or gadget or game.
Just some thoughts...peace out yo!
And may you have a very blessed and happy Christmas season!
There is laundry to be folded and put away. Letters to write. An application to fill out. Plans to be made. Dinner to be cooked. Baking to be done. Presents to be wrapped (the irony of that statement is that I have yet to go Christmas shopping).
Today will be restful...I might not even get out of my sweats. Because tomorrow will start the last push of the holiday season before Christmas is here. There will be many pies to be made, and many long hours of work to be enjoyed.
I had a revelation last week in church. My pastor has been delivering a sermon series about the "Advent Conspiracy" and talking about how much Americans spend on Christmas each year. The main four points of this series are 1)Spend Less 2)Give More 3)Worship Fully 4)Love Well. It's such a great series, and it has certainly given me a lot of food for thought this holiday season.
Anyway...my revelation. In American society over the last several years there has been a very marked move toward all things politically correct. We can no longer say Merry Christmas. It's Happy Holidays. We can no longer have a Christmas tree alone. We must have a tree and a menorah and a symbol of Kwanzaa. And the list goes on. It's almost like society has moved as far away from Christmas as they can without actually getting rid of the holiday altogether.
I started thinking about that, and I suddenly realized that we literally cannot get rid of Christmas. Why? Because we can't afford to get rid of Christmas. Businesses need the income that the Christmas season brings in so that they can make their business float for another year. Does the term Black Friday ring a bell? The start to the Christmas season is called Black Friday because it is the day out of the entire year that causes stores to go from being in the red to in the black. That's the accounting way of saying that they go from being in debt to being in profit. Like I said...our society cannot afford to get rid of Christmas.
And since they can't get rid of it, they strive simply to make it as secular as possible. We take away all the meaning and simple loveliness of the holiday by making it all about presents and new toys and how much we are expected to spend on whom. We forget that which truly matters about this season. Jesus gets lost in the piles of presents under the tree and the plates of fattening food on the table.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with giving gifts and with celebrating with big family meals. I believe those are things that make holidays special. What I am saying is that those things shouldn't be our focus. Those things should point us toward the meaning behind them. We give gifts because of the most precious gift we have been given. We sit and fellowship with each other because that's what Christ did.
I would much rather celebrate with a circle of friends and family around me than with the biggest pile of presents. I would rather soak up precious moments spent with those people who mean the most to me than with the latest toy or gadget or game.
Just some thoughts...peace out yo!
And may you have a very blessed and happy Christmas season!
couldn't have said it better if I'd thought of it first :-) lovely. thanks friend.
ReplyDelete