Sunday, November 27, 2011

Thanksgiving and other "Holidays"

So obviously if you live in America and own a TV, Computer, Smartphone or ant other media device you know that this past week was Thanksgiving, followed by Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and who knows how many other special events, sales and celebrations. Over the years I've participated in my share of  celebrations and when I was younger and had expendable cash I've scrambled and rushed to get few gifts on insane sale prices at 6 in the morning. Things change though and we "grow up", college sucks away money, personal trauma occurs and loved ones are lost. Whether these things affected my view of Holidays or I simply grew tired of the societal mockery and defilement of pure and simple things in life. Thanksgiving is based on the supposed celebration between Native Americans and the "Pilgrims". Cultural shifts and ignorance covers the holiday in a cloud of uncertainty and transforms it into an excuse to indulge and promote reckless spending and fulfilling a need for accomplishment by purchasing excessive amounts of material goods. It leads to X-mas, as most of America would prefer to call it. This "Hol(y)day" was first introduced by the church to signify the birth of Jesus Christ, hence CHRISTmas. It greatly saddens me how not many people don't know this. What saddens me more is those who do but still focus on what secular America has done to it rather than the "true meaning" of Christmas. The fact that many believe that it is a time to be happy, give gifts and visit family rather than remember that God came to this world as True Man and True God so that we could be redeemed from the wrath we deserved.

I'm sorry to have delved into theology but it invokes sadness and anger that so many of my fellow human beings are lost and wandering and they could very easily find the answers to the questions and fill the holes that that don't even realize they are trying to fill. I also don't like the picture of Christianity that other religions and nonbelievers have in mind because of the flabby Christians and even the devout. We are seen as hypocrites because we seem to seek and expect perfection when we cannot ourselves be what we "preach". Most Christians accept and believe that we are no better no perfect than any one else. We simply try to be out of thankfulness for what Christ did for us. I try to live as if everyday is Thanksgiving,Christmas, and Easter so sometimes it feels slightly pointless to celebrate a these Holidays. Not that I'm a downer, but instead of these days being a peak of joy and other days are lows they are simply an elevation of a spiritual high. Not that I don't have bad days or periods of low spirits, I simply don't need a holiday to lift them back up. So, have a Happy Holiday but I urge you to look for the well that never runs dry and maybe you'll find the Christ in your Holy Day.

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