The Approaching Season

Society bombards us with images of all the hottest gifts for the season from the moment Halloween ends to the minute Christmas Day arrives.  We are flooded with ads and commercials on TV, websites, even our social networking sites.  Companies are doing more and more to learn about our interests, what will catch our eye, and compel us to buy, buy, buy.  They use tactics that categorize us, filters and tracking cookies on the internet, databases that sort and slot us where they think we fit.  All in the name of product promotion and profit.  Individualizing marketing tools are aimed directly at each one of us who has a presence on the internet whether we realize it or not.  We are tracked and categorized.  And the result?  Christmas has turned into a circus.  We no longer have a Season - we have a season.  God has been surgically removed from the commercial vision of what Christmas is.  Christmas itself has been turned into "Xmas" or the "Holiday Season."  More to the point, we've been anesthetized.   Numbed to what this Season should really be about.  Blinded by glitter, confetti and twinkle lights that are bombarding our senses every day.  

Now there is nothing inherently wrong with decorating the house with lights, hanging wreaths or raising a tree - it's that we've forgotten that the Day should be a celebration of Christ's birth.  A Day that should have so much importance for the meaning behind it than the pretty picture it presents in Martha Stewart magazine.  We've even been taught to be careful not to wish someone a Merry Christmas for fear we may offend that person's belief system. 

I may receive some criticism for this post but I feel compelled to remind all of us that the reason we have Christmas is to celebrate the birth of our Savior, the Redeemer, the Messiah who defeated death as prophesied, so we might all be saved from eternal darkness and live in Him.  We are meant to see this Season with Hope, Love, Faith, Mercy and Grace.  We are to live as Christ lived, with Love in our hearts for God and for everyone we meet along the way.  No matter our backgrounds, our religious beliefs, our locale, our spot on the income scale - we are all neighbors.  What good is this life we are living if we are living it without these gifts from God?  I don't know about you but that alone is enough - the rest is gravy.

So go ahead and decorate to your hearts content!  Throw parties and buy gifts for all your loved ones this year.  But don't forget that Jesus IS the Reason for the Season.  Give thanks to the King for all the blessings you've received this year.  Praise Him above all else and remember those less fortunate than you.  Don't be sucked into all the ads and commercials that make this time of year impersonal and false.  Remember my charge to you to find an organization or place where you can volunteer or get involved in making a difference.  You never know who you are going to bless with your time, treasure and talents.  Are you willing?

As for me?  Well, it seems God has given me the gift of knitting and a love of baking.  So I'm going to do the best I can to put those talents to good work in His name.

Kick off the Season right everyone!  Put Love in your heart and have compassion for those you see bustling around you.  Offer them a smile, you never know whose day you'll make!

Stay safe and Happy Knitting!