Monday; December 21

One of the things I haven’t heard too much about this year is the commercialization of Christmas. Maybe it is because I haven’t been in as many retail stores as I typically am this time of year or maybe it is because people are doing more online shopping, but the typical lamentations aren’t as prevalent this year. I really believe that fewer people are stressed by the typical holiday issues – multiple holiday parties, finding space for all the presents under the tree, how to fit all the family and a few close friends around a table in our dining rooms – but, could there be another reason … maybe even a more mature one? Could it be that we are realizing that stuff is not as important as other things in our lives? We aren’t fretting about getting the perfect present because we are so focused on maintaining the gift of health. We aren’t stressing out over how many people will be gathering at the house this year because we are saddened that we can’t all be together. We aren’t as busy making sure that everyone in the family has the same number of gifts because too many families are missing the presence of a grandma or grandpa this year. We aren’t as busy making last minute travel adjustments because we have come to a new appreciation of the freedoms we do have.
I am struggling to find much redeeming value in the Year of the Virus, but maybe it has helped us reflect on what is really important to us. I hope that next year we will need to be warned about the commercialization of Christmas – but for this year, let’s remember to be thankful for what we do have.

Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday; May 3

I have a fish tank that allows my three Bettas (Larry, Darrell and Darrell) to live in the same structure, but remain hidden from each other – well sort of.   When I go to feed the fish, I believe that one of the Darrell’s can sort of see that the other Darrell is getting fed and he will linger over on that side of the tank even after I put his food in his tank.   I have to tap on the side of the tank where his food is floating to help him refocus and eat.   I get the impression that he is so interested in what is going on in the other Darrell’s tank that he can’t enjoy his own food. I have been told that the brain of a fish is pretty small – which explains their inability to process “blessings”, but are we guilty of the same malady as Darrell?   Are we so worried (or consumed) by what happens to the people around us that we fail to realize what is going on with us?   Are we envious of the blessings that others are receiving and end up missing out on what we have been given?   Are w
Read more

Thursday; February 14

         While most of us are familiar with today being Valentine’s Day, there are some who actually refer to February 14 th as “St. Valentine’s Day”.  This title is often affixed to a criminally historic event known as “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” on February 14, 1929 in Chicago, but that is another story for another time.  Not knowing much about the history of “Saint Valentine” I did a little research and found out he was a Roman religious leader who was martyred in 269 AD.  According to my limited research Valentine was killed because of his encouragement of Roman men (especially soldiers) to marry which was in violation of Claudias’ edict that prohibited marriage to keep their minds singularly focused on their task of defending the Empire.  Somehow, from this beginning – and possibly embellished by Chaucer – St. Valentine became intertwined with the concept of romantic love.           I am not really sure how February 14 th became connected with love, but inspired by thi
Read more

Wednesday; December 6

What does it mean to be a leader? I subscribe to the belief that a leader is someone who seeks the best for others and works with them to achieve their potential. There are others; however, who define leadership as the ability to have a vision and the tenacity to get their own way. Leaders who are this way are often portrayed as having developed the maturity to manipulate people to do things their way. However, is the ability to drive people in our direction mature or is it childish? The Christians of the 1st Century came from a lot of different backgrounds and had to work hard to work together. As the Apostle Paul challenged Christians in the city of Ephesus he challenged them to accept individual differences, “… until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. “ (Ephesians 4:13). Bossiness was not to be viewed as a sign of maturity, a willingness to wo
Read more