Sunday, November 24, 2013

The Christmas Creed

My mostly tongue-in-cheek blog post last Sunday about the twelve months of Christmas prompted some interesting and thoughtful comments and also a couple of phone calls from when it appeared on the religion page of The Quill. Everyone was civil, which is nice.

Now I'm going to flesh out a few concepts which are not tongue in cheek. I'm making wide generalizations here, even though I know there are many who are working to avoid the kind of lifestyle I'm getting ready to describe. If any of what I say applies to you, know that some of it also applies to me. As I commented on another topic recently, we're all hypocrites at some level. I am being critical in this piece, but it's because I hope it will lead us all to want to change even in small ways if not in big ways.

First, I don't really care about the Christmas decorating in homes which started weeks ago. It may irritate some, but it's not the issue. It brings people joy and I have no complaints about that. (Although, at the corporate level, bringing out the decorations so early, does make me suspicious of motives. How about you?)

Here's my beef. We, as a society, are a country with a set of values which is out of whack and wildly different from just a few decades ago. We have an apparently insatiable appetite for cheap, plastic crap from China. We have created a generation of children which doesn't know where anything comes from or at whose expense it was made. Even most adults don't care or want to know. We would rather buy ten toys for $2 each which will be taking up space in a landfill within a matter of weeks than spend $20 for one thing made in the U.S., maybe even by a local craftsman/woman, which will likely be around for a while. Cheap plastic crap is so much more fun, no matter what it's doing to the ecomony.

The orgy of buying at Christmas which starts in earnest this year on Thanksgiving, not even the day after but ON Thanksgiving, is not the whole problem. It's just one piece of the puzzle even though it's a large, vulgar piece. We have taken a season of the year designed to bring together family and friends as a time of expressing gratitude and turned into a time to stress out over not having enough money to buy everything on everyone's "list." The simple pleasure of enjoying each other's company is not enough. Good food and companionship apparently need "enhancement." The sad thing is the kind of enhancing we're getting ready to witness next week will look more like a train wreck.

We have also taken a holiday meant to commemorate the birth of Jesus and given it a "360 makeover," transforming it into something which is not in keeping with the simple message  his birth symbolizes. I believe Jesus meant to usher in a new Way of humility, compassion, peace and love certainly not a glut of consumerism. As I referenced last week but did not expand on, shopping at locally owned businesses during the holidays can be a good way to support friends and neighbors and help the local economy. Exchanging meaningful gifts with friends and family is one thing. Going in debt to do so in a Grinch-like white-hot fury is quite another matter.

My main complaint is that the message for all of us, the lesson our kids learn in the process of how we celebrate the season, is that buying is good, consuming is good. It's the lesson of always wanting more, never having enough stuff, never being satisfied. And that's my question. It's my question for the multi-millionaire CEOs. It's my question for someone replacing his or her perfectly fine 6-month-old smartphone with a slightly updated newer version. It's my question for all of us. When is enough ever going to be enough?

Thus, my 12-months-of-Christmas post. The problem isn't what's wrong with the holidays. It's what's wrong all of the time. There is an ever-increasing greed demonstrated at the highest levels which is eating away at the fabric of what makes a nation great. Our country is succumbing to political and corporate factions which would tell us we should not care for one another at a human level. Everything is reduced to a number, a statistic, a graph or a pie chart. Us regular folks didn't start that fire, but now we are fanning the flames by literally buying into what we're being told is right by those who have no moral compass.

The message surrounding December 25 can and will inspire us year round. Which message will it be? More stuff or more love? We must wake up and stop living a creed of greed.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Christmas All Year Long

Does anyone else think that the 12 days of Christmas might be in danger of turning into the 12 months of Christmas? As a society it seems we have settled into a pattern of inching backward every year on the calendar to earlier and earlier acceptable times for “getting our Christmas on.” I’m reminded of something my dad used to say, “There are only two seasons anymore, Fourth of July and Christmas.” He had a legitimate point, as I’ve seen Christmas supplies for sale as early as August in the last couple of years.

I suppose, at one level, there might not be anything wrong with extending the holiday season. While I’m on the topic, I certainly don’t see why we can’t call it the holiday season. I refuse to stop recognizing Thanksgiving, and it is part of the holidays. New Year’s Day is also part of the season of celebration. If you ever hear me say, “happy holidays,” it’s not because I’m being politically correct, it’s because the word holiday is derived from two words, “holy day” and it means a time of commemoration. It’s not anti-religious. It’s a pro-religious term.

Celebrating Christmas earlier and earlier is a means for retailers, who are often struggling to stay in business, to sell more merchandise. In spite of my current views on consumerism, I’ve owned a retail store and I know how tough it is. Also, many people take great pleasure and comfort in their Christmas decorations. Anything which brings joy can’t be all bad. Maybe I’m just giving up and giving in to the inevitable, but I know that I certainly don’t get up in arms over Christmas mayhem like I have in previous times. 

I remember my very first letter to the editor of The West Plains Daily Quill, going on 40 years ago. At the time, I was livid about the “commercialization” of Christmas. I can’t remember what I thought was so crass about what was going on, but I’m guessing  by today’s standards, whatever was so awful then would be considered quaint now. I do know back then that businesses didn’t feel pressured to be open on Thanksgiving and there weren’t Christmas decorations up before Halloween.

Maybe one day there will be Christmas all year long, with the 25th of every month set aside as a special day for feasting and exchanging gifts. It would be a job creator, for sure, by providing more steady employment for Santa Claus and his elves. In the year 2035, Easter will fall on March 25. That particular day could be a “super holiday,” with perhaps the Easter bunny and Santa Claus giving each other a hand in filling stockings and hiding eggs to relieve stress on the both of them. (The tooth fairy won’t be able to help. She will be too busy from all the teeth falling out due to the extra candy distribution.) We could have the world’s biggest fireworks display to celebrate, once again lighting up the sky over Bethlehem.

I’m not trying to be flippant or cranky. I suppose I’m merely wishing we could all relax a little during the last two months of the year without feeling the pressure to achieve some unattainable level of Christmas perfection. In the midst of settling down, we would likely find more of the peace and goodwill which ideally comes with the commemoration of the birth of Jesus.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Improving on Nature

I know there are proponents of daylight saving time, but I'm wondering if the tide has turned mostly against the idea. Judging from Facebook posts, it would seem the answer is, "End daylight saving time!"

I am not a fan for a variety of reasons. Mostly because daylight saving time is a perfect example of how the level of our human arrogance has increased as civilization has advanced. We have made 'improvements' to things like water by bottling it, farming by using deadly chemicals and our food supply by genetically modifying it. With daylight saving time humankind even has the audacity to think we can improve on something as simple and basic as the rising and the setting of the sun.

There is ample evidence to suggest that these items I mention, and many others I could name, actually are a better way of doing things. Just ask Monsanto. Monkeying around with nature earns this corporate giant $1.5 billion in quarterly profits. Its version of improving on nature certainly seems 'better' to shareholders even if it comes at great cost to our health and to the environment.

There is a rhythm in nature that is simple. A rhythm which is not at odds with life but rather in sync. One way to express this harmony is recorded in the book of Ecclesiastes as:

There is a time for everything,
   and a season for every activity under the heavens


I believe it suggests, in the case of daylight saving time, that if we would relax and stop demanding that the rising and the setting of the sun conform to our schedule we might be less stressed and happier. Wouldn't it be better to leave the clocks alone, enjoy the changing of the seasons and adjust our activities accordingly?