Its easy
to lose the meaning of something.
There
are a few phrases that I have seen, read and thought about lately that leave me
confused.
One sign
hanging on a restaurant exterior way said:
“Happy Hour now from 4 pm to 9 pm. “
Is it really just an hour? Of
course ‘happiness” is questionable in that setting anyway.
We have
been bombarded with the “Black Friday” nonsense for several weeks by the advertisers. The car ads are the worst ones adding to the
confusion: “Its Black Friday all month
long.” So is Black Friday one day or a
series of days?
Whenever
I buy an electronic device they always try to push the sale of a ‘life time guarantee’
warranty for an extra few hundred bucks.
I always pass because in my some five decades of life, there has never
been any electronic device I bought that has survived a ‘life time’, with or
without a warranty.
Christmas
has turned into one of those confusing times of the year for many of us. The stores would prefer we drop the religions
connation’s and simply go with a new name for the day, like “Santamas”. For a holiday purist like myself, the over commercialization
of Christmas continues to ascend to new heights and the holiday season seems to
be extended now to right after Labor Day.
We have
been very intentional in our home to celebrate advent with our children over
the years by doing advent devotions around the dinner table whenever we are
together. It’s a very high value that my
wife has over the past three years in our leadership at the training college emphasized
to the Cadets before they leave for their Christmas assignments. Focusing on the story of advent must be kept
alive for the generations to come.
Recently
I stumbled across this growing grass roots movement called “The Advent Conspiracy.”
They have reached out to over 1000
churches in North America. Here are some
questions they are asking us to consider: “What if we just stop? Stop the madness. Stop
the frustrating pursuit of the perfect present. Stop shopping until we drop.
Stop trying to “people please” through gift giving.
“We’re not trying to kill the idea of giving gifts,” said Ken Weigel, pastor of ministry development at Imago Dei Community in Portland, Ore. “What we’re saying is that instead of buying your kid the Xbox, buy him a baseball mitt, and yourself a mitt, and actually make a commitment to your son to play catch regularly.”
Or, suggested Weigel, give a friend or family member a couple of mugs and a pound of coffee with a note that says, “This coffee is for when we sit down and talk because what I want to do this year is spend more time with you.”
The movement calls this ‘relational giving.’ It’s the center of the Advent Conspiracy’s philosophy. Source: http://rethinkchurch.org/article/ChristmasGiving
The direction of our ministry in the Salvation Army has been set by that famous one word our Founder gave to early day Salvationists “Others.” We continue to stress that tradition of forgetting oneself and focusing on the needs of others. What a perfect time during the Advent season to pick up and dust off this word again by our actions.
My kids often ask me what I want for Christmas. I am always quick to respond. “I want peace on earth.” They would laugh and say, “No dad, for real’s, what do you want for Christmas?” For socks, and ties and soap and other things, I can always get what I want as an adult. The things I really want are somewhat intangible and unattainable.
But what if I gave the gift of peace of others this year? Instead of arguing to get my way or to point out the faults in others how wonderful and inexpensive the gift of giving peace to others would be. All that it takes is me willing to take the step to give that instead of holding back or holding out for something in return.
May your Christmas season be filled with opportunities for you to give back, in both big and small ways. Be intentional in and about your giving this holiday.
Let’s get back the meaning of this all.
