Reading this article from last year, I am fascinated to see how much the world has not really changed. This year as in years past, Black Friday was moved even earlier, but now to 9pm on Thanksgiving. From a day that is supposed to be about thankfulness and happiness comes a day filled with selfishness and desire, and our world is moving toward the latter. However, this time of year is about joy and reflection and I hope that all of you will take time to do both over the next few busy days and weeks. Like in the years past, I’d like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2012! This has been a very tough year in particular for many in town and across the nation and I hope that positive change will occur in this new year ahead. As always, thank you for reading this article and the many others I have written in my years here on The Journals. I hope you will enjoy even more of them in 2012!
-Ryan “Robinson” Schwertfeger
Is the Reason for the Season Shopping? I hope not. By: Ryan Robinson
Christmas is my favorite time of the year and when the cold snap begins, that’s the cue for the holidays. However, is it just me or does this great season seem to arrive earlier and earlier as the years go on?
I’ve probably seen the biggest shift from Black Friday (being the beginning of Christmastime) to what it is today: the first week of November. To try and quote my pastor on this one, he said that he thinks that there is some book out there that has the rules and dates of shopping in it. Although this book though was not set in stone, he thinks the pages of it keeps getting erased every other year or so and changed by the mall and shopping community. In case you didn’t know, the Christmas season officially begins after the sun goes down on Halloween. According to this text, once November 1st arrives it’s time for Christmas shopping to begin!
This change of the social and shopping calendar of Christmas is very reflective of our nation. We are a country of consumers and spenders and if the retailers can try to make Christmas seem closer, the more profit they’ll make. The stores dread January, of course, because that means an abundance of returns and the markdown of Christmas items. Yet, my general view on Christmas coming early was fine tuned a bit by the well-known TV commentator and conservative author Glenn Beck.
For the past few weeks, Beck has been talking about how we as a nation are becoming more materialistic and less religious and moral. I found both the video and website on the side (Website: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/48248/ , VIDEO: start at 6:38 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waGSg_9QAxs&feature=related ) about to be very interesting about the Tower of Babel. This king from way back when wanted everyone to be the same by having people possess no character or individuality. When building this Tower, the king ordered it to be built with bricks and not stones; because bricks are exactly the same while every stone is unique. After watching the video or reading the article, you learned that each brick represented a person and also that the bricks are similar to the king’s beliefs that all people should be the same. However, what does the mortar stand for in between these proverbial bricks? Materialism. That’s what the king wanted in order to hold them together since he wanted to wipe away religion. In our world today, do you see more people going to church on Sunday, or going to Willowbrook Mall because they don’t have blue laws there? Do you see more people going to synagogue on Saturday or standing outside Wal-Mart waiting for the half-price TV?
One part of the reason for the season is to give and not receive, and buying gifts is not a bad way to do that. However, the real reason is to understand why Jesus was born on this Earth and then to give that joy of his birth to everyone. That joy cannot be bought at any store or shop and that in itself is the real reason for the season. So to answer the question, no, the reason for the season is not shopping or just exchanging gifts. These materialistic views are exactly what is blocking the real meaning of Christmas. It is because of Jesus that we celebrate this time of year and the giving of gifts to others out of selflessness only shows God’s love of giving his son to us.
So please, remember the real meaning and reason for the season and enjoy all of it with your family and friends. Be stones of uniqueness and not bricks of the same.
I’d like to wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone! Thanks for reading this article and the many others I have written. I hope you will enjoy even more of them in 2011 as well!
-Ryan Robinson
Originally published 13/23/10