Black Friday and Other Stupid Ideas - Plus...

Black Friday is the dumbest idea anyone has come up with.  First of all, people get up before 12:00 AM, dress in eight layers, stand in line for hours, then trample everyone else trying to get inside the store for that "perfect" gift, while saving a bundle doing it.  We over spend on everything and for what?  This is Advent people.  Get a grip!  It isn't Christmas and this is the time of year when we celebrate the upcoming birthday of Jesus Christ.  This is actually a penitential time of year - one of reflection and introspection.  Yes, we should buy a gift or two for our loved ones to give when Christmas gets here.  Yes, we do need to support our merchants and increase our economy, but going overboard sends the wrong message to our kids.  They expect all kinds of expensive things they don't need - but want because everyone else has to have them.  Wrong, wrong, wrong.  You can't buy your children's love with things.  It's called parenting - not spending money.

When I was a kid, my parents - to the right - gave me one gift each. Chanel No. 5 from Dad (when I was a teen), something Mom hand made for me (always, well almost anyway) and Granny gave me a savings bond.  There was one gift from the Chicago cousins and that was it.  I think my sister Jan and I exchanged something when we got older.  And we all went to church as a family on Christmas Eve.  Christmas Day we opened gifts and invited people for Christmas lunch who didn't have anyone to celebrate with.  And sometimes we didn't even know them!

Not everyone shares the Christian traditions of Advent and Christmas.  But simply because a person isn't a follower, it doesn't mean they can't enjoy the sights and sounds of the Season.  There is plenty to enjoy.  And for our brothers and sisters who share a different tradition, such as Hannukah or Kwanza, it gives us a chance to learn about their holiday, traditions and culture.  To me, it's a win-win situation and it makes me happy to see what they enjoy.  There is richness in every tradition.  And it's also a time of respecting others.

Advent is a festive time of year when we share what we have.  We decorate our homes with ornaments passed down through the generations.  We add to those each year (well, many families do).  Many share an Advent wreath and light the candles to mark the weeks coming up to Christmas.  We live the traditions of the generations which came before us with food, stories, decorations and love.  By giving of ourselves, we receive so much in return.  This is the time for sharing memories of our own childhoods, creating new memories with our children and grandchildren.  We may not all live in a two parent family unit.  Some families are single parent homes.  Some are grandparent homes and many are blended families, like mine is now.  But this is the one time of year when we can all include everyone and show that by giving our love and sharing what we have, it brings the message of Love, Peace and Hope to all those we encounter.  For when we meet a stranger, we are seeing Christ in them and how can we refuse Our Lord?

As we begin this Advent Season on Sunday, may it be a time of reflection for all of us.  May we honour those who will not be with us this year and are celebrating with us in Heaven.  May we remember those who are in our military and unable to return until their tours are done.  And we can keep their families in our prayers as well.  This is a time of great love and expressing that love to our family members and friends.  Tomorrow is another day and we may never be able to tell them again - so say it often...and mean it.

May you all have a blessed Advent and wonderous Christmas.  For me, I will be following a star in the East... (and no, it isn't the International Space Station.)