The war over Christmas

I don't mean to dilute the meaning of "War". I understand in its purity this is no where near what this situation holds, but it still doesn't take away the intensity that the "Politically Correct" masses are becoming increasingly louder about in terms of Christmas.

For years now I have heard more people saying "Happy Holidays" and things changing at schools from Christmas Programs to Winter programs and what not, as people continue to try to not offend anyone who may be of different religions than Christianity. I do understand that everyone has their own thoughts and philosophies as well as what they believe in, and I understand that some people may feel the pressure of Christianity over what they believe in is sometimes "too much". Even the meaning of the word Christmas comes from "Christ's Mass".

Let's face it. The celebration of Christmas is flawed, anyways--this date has never been proven to be the actual date that Jesus was born, and many arguments have ensued over whether the date was chosen to correspond with either the day exactly nine months after some early Christians believed Jesus had been conceived, a historical Roman festival, or the winter solstice. And what had originated as a celebration of Christianity has in fact been commercialized and perverted with images of Father Christmas, Santa Claus, and the gift giving frenzy--no one is denying that at all.

The question then continues to come back to the basis of the celebration--Christians are seeming to be pushing the envelope about the "Reason for the Season", while those who are either non-believers or of other religions are continuing to yell louder that the "reason" in fact shouldn't matter and to "not push an agenda".

However...I tend to agree with both sides. I look at Christmas as an overall experience--and the bottom line is that it is a time of year where families get together and celebrate the time together--yes, there are gifts, yes there are secular things that are involved, but for Christians, it is a great experience where all of this happens plus we get yet another reminder of the greatness of God and the life he has given to us. What's important is that everyone gets to celebrate in this--and as Christians, we should be happy that the "good" thing about it is that this a time of love and reflection as to what we have in our life--and just because a person isn't a Christian does not mean that they can't do that either.

The war over Christmas will more than likely continue to be intensified as individuals fight gallantly for their beliefs, but as a budding Christian and someone who is trying to find a pure faith, I am just happy that we have this time of year to celebrate everything. Period.

We as humans need this and I would think that even God would agree that even if individuals celebrate Christmas and aren't Christians...that doesn't mean they are any less of individuals, and maybe some day they can understand the true meaning in many more senses, because the idea is that we shouldn't be concerned over those that are Christians, but those that aren't. Christmas gives the world a stage to see some things of Jesus Christ that they normally wouldn't pay attention to...and even if that means that one person accepts Jesus as their savior because of Christmas alone, that enough alone is worth everything to God.  Continue Reading »

Make a Wish...

I have a confession to make. When ever I hear Sally Struthers' voice come on begging me for money for starving children in Africa, I can't get to the remote quick enough to find anything else on television. If there is an ad for the ASPCA, I will simply walk out of the room. I don't want to "see" the suffering in the world--I know it exists, but out of sight--out of mind. I avoid the television pretty much altogether whenever the Jerry Lewis MDA telethon is on. I am not proud of it--but I also have a hard time correcting this behavior.

So, it probably comes as no surprise that when a local radio station had their "Make A Wish" telethon today that I kind of groaned internally when I heard them discussing it first thing this morning. Of course, I was already in the shower so I didn't have a chance to change the station. But then--I heard some amazing stories of strength, love, and courage--from the littlest champions in the world--kids with aggressive leukemia, rare cancer conditions, pretty much everything. And to hear the glee in their voices and the hope--I just almost was reduced to tears listening to their stories.

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Whatever Happened to Common Courtesy?

Call me old-fashioned. Just go ahead and do it. You know you want to.

I have a REALLY hard time with people that don't have common courtesy. I am talking like things where if you say "Excuse Me" to some one that they acknowledge you, if someone has to merge that they give you "the wave", if you say thank you to them that they say "You're welcome" and NOT "Yep," or "Mmm hmm" or anything at all. I was raised fiercely to be overly courteous to people, and is more than likely a main cog as to why I ended up in the customer service industry.

I witnessed this on several occasions over the weekend. For one, I went grocery shopping. It was a busy time, and there were several people obviously encompassing many of the aisles, so it was a little slow going. Not to my dismay, I don't mind it at all. There were THREE times throughout the store that I came around a corner and almost ran into someone--not because I was flying around there on two wheels or not paying attention, simply because of the traffic. I said "Excuse me" to all of them, and one person gave me a half smile, the other a kind of annoyed look, and yet another just marched past me as if I wasn't even there. I must admit that by the last time, I was about ready to say a bit louder as the person marched past me "OH..YOU'RE WELCOME"--but I bit my tongue--hard.

To follow that up, I went through a drive thru. The person taking my money for the meal didn't say a single word to me--I had my debit card out waiting upon him coming to the window, he took it from me, came back with it and a receipt moments later, to which I said "Thanks" and he just closed the window. AAAAHHH! What is the deal with people today?

This is an area that I know my faith will help me and continue to reinforce the habits that I was taught from a young age on--no matter what, even if you are having a bad day, even if you have something that just made you very angry, it gives ZERO reason to not be courteous to someone. Jesus had many people spit on him, beat him severely, mock him, and yet he loved them all--and showed them the courtesy that they deserved simply for being human beings--despite how nasty they were.

And this is not even close to happening to me--they didn't treat me out and out like garbage, but it still hurts to think that people just don't have the simplest "responses" that we should have ingrained in us from day one--do unto others. It again gives me perspective about how great Jesus Christ is and the benevolence that God has for us--he not only gives us common courtesy, but he allows us to spit all over his word, ignore his requests, and even go in the opposite direction for our own selfish wants. And not only does he give us courtesy, he loves us more. I continue to be humbled by this example and yet ashamed at mankind on many occasions as to their indiscretions at just simply being "nice"--not sugary, just NICE.

Are there certain pet peeves that you have like this that drive you crazy? How do you deal with these peeves and at the same time try to honor your faith in God? Continue Reading »

Peer Pressure isn't just for teens

It's hard to believe.

It's not only hard to believe in existence of metaphysical beings, but it's even harder to tell people about it. I find it incredibly ironic that the vast, vast majority of individuals that are atheists or basically evolutionists or just simply question a lot of theological references will go out of their way to argue their point to you or basically mock anyone who is a believer of any religion--especially Christians.

There are a lot of unanswered questions in everyone's life, and I get it--the question mark of where we came from, where we end up, and the journey and decisions we make in life making that possible is something that can be a joke to those who say there's no possible way that God exists because there are so many unknowns. And that is what the crux of all this is--the unknown. If there were evidence to the contrary--real time miracles that can be attributed to God's presence--while there would still be naysayers and people questioning even if God sat down next to them and had a conversation, some of the unknown could at least be cleared up.

But the thing that is hardest for anyone to fully grasp, and a struggle for me as a whole, is faith. Believing in what isn't there. Working a life that is filled with intent on something that you've never seen or will see with your living eyes. Making decisions and sacrifices that are not self-indulgent, but rather selfless based on principles that we take wholeheartedly as The Way.

Difficult doesn't begin to describe it.

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