Christmas is Coming...

Some leaves still desperately cling to their home tree but most have long fallen and mixed in to the muddy, mucky piles that decorate our town...

Thanksgiving has barely passed (though we are still paying for it since a geocaching attempt on a very scenic route ended in a new oil pan and engine mount and a tow of about 80 km) and Christmas is already being mentioned.

Someone informed me yesterday that a store they shop at is already playing Christmas carols!

Wow!  Hallowe'en hasn't even been celebrated yet...

And here we are right back at the same debate/discussion we have every single year.  The one that makes me almost sick with frustration and annoyance and disgust.  Yes, the one about materialism and selfishness and tradition and money and the whole lack of Jesus as a part of it all - even though it is supposed to be His birthday party!

WHY?

Why do people spend more than they can afford and attempt for the whole following year to pay off credit card bills giving people gifts they don't even want or need?

Why do we forget that it is all supposed to be about Christ... that He came to this earth to serve and save us...and yet we make it all about me me me...

Why do people REALLY give gifts?  To honour someone else or out of seasonal guilt and duty?  To serve another or to get that good deep down sentiment of having done something good (so again, all about them)?  Because they see a need and fill it or because they don't want to be the only one NOT giving gifts?

Why is there so much pressure for us all to conform to tradition and societal expectations?

Why does 'enjoying the holiday' have to go hand-in-hand with material items?  Why can't time with family and friends and lonely people be enough?

And we always come to the same conclusion: how do we hold up our own beliefs without offending someone else by asking them to quit giving?

Geesh...better go watch those falling leaves, the bright rays of sun that occasionally shine through the grey, overcast clouds that threaten snow, and just be grateful for it all...