It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ...
I am sure that those of you who saw the appalling video of people trampling others on "Black Friday" in an effort to make their important Christmas purchases may have been as disturbed as I was. It is discouraging to see how little value people assign to others' safety or dignity. Imagine how bad it would have been if things were being given away for free. Let that sink in ... people were mowing other people down for the privilege of spending money.
A few years ago the Governor of Cal-i-for-ni-a (aka Arnold) starred in a movie where several shoppers were so crazed about purchasing a "TurboMan" doll that they acted in a similar manner, shoving people to the ground and running them over. The movie makers intended it to be a funny scene, an exaggerated version of what people do at Christmas. It's not so funny when life imitates art so closely like this.
It is sad that "Black Friday" and the images of selfishness and rudeness are now the new "scenes of Christmas." Sometimes I long for the days when Christmas was simply over-commercialized instead of what it seems to be morphing into these days. It has gotten to the point that nothing really shocks us anymore. I know that it is nothing new to complain about how far we have gotten from the true meaning and spirit of Christmas, but still I feel the need to express my concern.
Obviously, it is not limited to "Black Friday" and it is not limited to shopping endeavors. There was once a time that I thought that despite all the commericalization of Christmas, it was still good that so many people focused more on the story of Christmas. Maybe I am becoming cynical in my old age, but it seems that the baby in a manger is getting pushed farther back in the scenes of Christmas. I think it even happens at churches, getting so busy with the season, we lose sight of the real focus of Christmas.
Perhaps it is because the concept that Jesus arrived on the scene ultimately to die on the cross. Obviously that doesn't play very well with the masses. You know, baby in a manger is cute and cuddly ... beaten, bloody, disfigured body on a crudely-fashioned cross, not so much.
The irony is that over 2000 years ago, families gathered together for a time of reunion throughout the known world (the census/taxation required it) and in the midst of the celebration and reunion, there was no time to notice and no room to honor the Savior come into the world ... his birth was not significant in the world he lived and more and more, his birth is becoming less significant in the world we live today.
A few years ago the Governor of Cal-i-for-ni-a (aka Arnold) starred in a movie where several shoppers were so crazed about purchasing a "TurboMan" doll that they acted in a similar manner, shoving people to the ground and running them over. The movie makers intended it to be a funny scene, an exaggerated version of what people do at Christmas. It's not so funny when life imitates art so closely like this.
It is sad that "Black Friday" and the images of selfishness and rudeness are now the new "scenes of Christmas." Sometimes I long for the days when Christmas was simply over-commercialized instead of what it seems to be morphing into these days. It has gotten to the point that nothing really shocks us anymore. I know that it is nothing new to complain about how far we have gotten from the true meaning and spirit of Christmas, but still I feel the need to express my concern.
Obviously, it is not limited to "Black Friday" and it is not limited to shopping endeavors. There was once a time that I thought that despite all the commericalization of Christmas, it was still good that so many people focused more on the story of Christmas. Maybe I am becoming cynical in my old age, but it seems that the baby in a manger is getting pushed farther back in the scenes of Christmas. I think it even happens at churches, getting so busy with the season, we lose sight of the real focus of Christmas.
Perhaps it is because the concept that Jesus arrived on the scene ultimately to die on the cross. Obviously that doesn't play very well with the masses. You know, baby in a manger is cute and cuddly ... beaten, bloody, disfigured body on a crudely-fashioned cross, not so much.
The irony is that over 2000 years ago, families gathered together for a time of reunion throughout the known world (the census/taxation required it) and in the midst of the celebration and reunion, there was no time to notice and no room to honor the Savior come into the world ... his birth was not significant in the world he lived and more and more, his birth is becoming less significant in the world we live today.
