Seasons Greetings: Remember it's the HOLYDAYS

Seasons Greetings to the international blogosphere. Yes, it is officially the Holidays. Halfway through Hanukkah, and only a few weeks away from Christmas, the fear of my job in retail and shopping in general arises . This stems from the fact that anyone who gets near a mall, shopping center, or store must suffer through the nonnegotiable traffic, lack of parking and reminder why angry people with credit cards should be locked up. The commercialism of this day is contagious as is the anger that permeates from the super shoppers, who have jumped into buying mode flocked to the malls and decided to put stuff and deals ahead of human life.

The retail industry has been trying to prepare for this season since before Thanksgiving, but you can never really be prepared. The economics of the U.S. being in the hole have caused the expected consumer expenses to be drastically lower then projected, but this small fact does not keep those loyal to the mistaken atmosphere of the season from spreading their dampening anger to the rest of us. I love Christmas. The celebration of Christs birth and the extra time with family, I even love the decorations and carols. I love these things ON CHRISTMAS. When you start hanging decorations and putting up Christmas Trees in October it gets a bit overwhelming. I know Christmas is coming. I love the meaning of the holiday but is it really necessary for every radio station and public venue to inundate me with a million different renditions of the same 5 songs I get tired of songs I once treasured.

Dr Seuss, not a real doctor, but a philosopher and child at heart and, embedded the necessities of life into his simple children's book. His book, "The Grinch who Stole Christmas," which has since been adapted to film, both animated and live action, is a simple social commentary on the over commercialism of Christmas. The Grinch is pushed away from Christmas because of the noise and attitudes of his neighbors, the Who. By the end the Grinch recognizes that it is not the commercialism that makes Christmas Christmas, but just the unnecessary outer shell. The commercialism of this month can turn a lot of us into Grinch's.

My father, when attending a elementary school concert, put it the best way. He said, Santa and presents and snow are nice but you must remember the CHRIST in Christmas. This season has been transformed into a time to buy presents for the family, but if presents are our focus the end result is not celebration but anger and stress. What we must remember is that the holidays are supposed to be HOLY DAYS. The true purpose of this season is to celebrate God miracles presented to man. Dec 25th is not a day to glorify our new stuff but rather the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, son of God.

So fellow holiday celebrators, as we shop for gifts and traverse the decorated streets remember that these days are not all about gifts and the newest coolest stuff its about the celebration of God and the miracles the he has presented us with. Take deep breaths and write IOU's it's better then killing the person in front of you.

Live Life, Love God
Happy Holidays

Jah Son