Unleash the Beast……
Ah the holiday’s. How exciting yet frustrating it can be to find that perfect gift, for that special person in your life. You hunt, forge, and gather until Christmas day, when you can present these lovely gifts to its intended.
How we wait and prepare for that Christmas cheer. And to think, it all starts on “BLACK FRIDAY”. Okay maybe for some it begins on Thursday after the bird’s been cooked. Doesn’t matter, my point here is we shop for Christmas.
But what I didn’t realize is how ugly and scary shopping can be! Now I’m not talking about shopping for yourself cause that can be pretty scary. I’m talking about the gift giving. People can turn into some of the scariest, people on earth fighting for a deal. Who cares if you bulldoze over someone, you got to get to the “precious!” (Little Hobbit humor, the only part of the movie that freaked me out….”my precious” in that scary groggily voice over some magical ring.)
But let’s go forward. I read stories on line of people fighting at WAL-MART, the discount store, over electronics and bath towels. Really? Are they giving it away for free? I’ve heard about people lining up outside Best Buy two days before the “big” day. Again are they giving stuff away for free?
Who have we become that we fight over things that don’t sustain life? A bath towel may help you stay dry, but will it wont keep you alive. Okay maybe as a shield to get through heavy smoke, or a truncate to stop the bleeding, but come on now, old towels can do that just as well. That 55″ flat screen that takes up the whole wall isn’t going to save your life either. Nor will that new XBOX or PS4. So why do we become such ugly monsters?
Okay, so I have no real answer for that. But I don’t like what people have become. Giving a gift is great, but most of these people end up buying for themselves not getting the perfect gift for someone else. It’s sad really. I blame advertisers, marketers and greedy CEO’s. I also blame the “American Dream”, it’s all about what you own.
If you think about it, when a company can mark the price that “low”, how come prices are so high all the other times. So maybe they take a loss for the product, and hope to gain elsewhere, but I doubt it in most cases. I also happened to notice in a Black Friday ad that Kohls and Kmart were selling the same jewelry box, both on “sale”, but Kohls was actually $10.00 cheaper. I guess I’m pointing out that even “sales” can be deceiving.
I myself start Christmas shopping in July, and have very little left by Black Friday. I’m learning that sometimes the gift of a donation in someone’s name goes over much better than another sweater, or book that will be read “someday”. I find even my own list, getting smaller with each passing year. So do we still need Black Friday? Do we have to “unleash the beast”, to have a great holiday?
No we don’t. We just have to give what we can from the heart. One time I was given advice that I still try to follow today. If you must give a list, put things on the list you would never buy for yourself. I’ve also been told, to really think about the person before you give the gift. Ask yourselves these questions;
Is this gift a want or need?
How long will it remain in the intendants home?
Does it serve a purpose, or is it purpose to collect dust and cob webs.
Does the intendant really want this?
Can YOU afford to really give it?
I think the best gift of all is to love from the heart, be there for the people and let them know you think about and pray about them daily. Don’t get me wrong, I have my WISH list I am human. But the greatest gift of all is your relationship with GOD and how you share that with others.
John3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Can your gift do that? Mine won’t, come that close. But it will come from the heart and it’s what I can afford.
My “beast was never unleashed”, something to think about this holiday gift giving season.