When Thanksgiving comes to pass, that means one of very few things to many people - shopping. The so-called "Black Friday" comes to mind. If everybody knows that it is the biggest shopping day of the year, why don't they wait it out for a bit until they can actually shop and browse with much less distraction? The today-only "deals" you get are really not that worth it because in order to increase your "savings" you have to spend more. It's a bit like taxes in reverse. If you want to be taxed less, you would have to make less money. I don't know of very many people who would voluntarily make less money just for the sake of making less money. (Those who do willfully take a pay cut generally have a higher purpose).
The sad irony in this is that people are so driven to buy obscene quantities of material goods so soon after a time that ought to be spent being thankful for what we already have. What is this all for? Well, there are several holidays coming up in the next few weeks but the majority of people in North America are doing this for Christmas. However, most of them do not know the truth about Christmas. It's about Christ. He was a gift to all of us. Also, the 3 wise men provided gifts to Him upon their visitation but mostly as a customary courtesy. Their PRESENCE during His early days was far more significant than their PRESENTS.
If we remove "Christ" from Christmas, we're left with "mas" which is not even an English word. In Spanish, it means "more." Christ has largely been forgotten in what has become a season of excess. People in our society always want "more." Even the occasion to be thankful for what we already have (it's called "Thanksgiving" for a reason) is just quickly and casually brushed aside like an inconvenient distraction because of our society's eternally insatiable appetite for "more." "More" will never be enough. But if those of us who celebrate Christmas focus on the reason for the season, there will be no need for "more." We've already been given the gift to end all gifts and we can instead spend this time appreciating the joy of the all-too-rare opportunity to be in the presence of our own families. (Yes, presents are fun, but not nearly as meaningful as our presence).
John 18: 33b-37
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