Brace yourself! I'm sure we are all aware that we are consumer targets. In case a few of you might have forgotten, the grocery store will kindly remind you that the "Holiday Season" is after you. Don't let it get you! Lock down your wallets and find a good quiet place for your mind between now and Christmas.
Thanksgiving ovens haven't even cooled down from roasting the turkey and warming pumpkin pies. However the beloved birds are now tossed haphazardly in the grocery store with the gravy packets looking like debris hanging on from better days.
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| The turkeys no one wanted |
The Christmas spirit is my favorite, but more out of love for the Annunciation, Immaculate Conception and celebrating the birth of Baby Jesus!
Jesus, the Savior of humanity, Lover of our souls, Friend in every hour, Comforter for the dying, Creator of our every molecule and Healer of our wounds....that Jesus was born in a poop smelling barn....His Mother, the bravest and strongest woman in history, went riding on a donkey, 9 months pregnant, in a foreign city where there were no hospitals or even a MediClinic to give birth in. She gave birth in the lowest and most poor of conditions. And the stores now tempt us to fill our hearts, homes and friends hands with stuff. Because if we don't, we are lacking "Holiday Spirit." Let's shoot for simplicity and honoring the humility of Christmas.
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| By Julius Garibaldi Melchers (1891) |
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| Strongest woman in history. |
But isn't it...creepy that stores target our emotions through a holiday that is based on a poor and humble birth in a stable? Stores are now exploding with red, green and gold everything. I went to the grocery store to pick up bread and a few odds and ends and was mind-boggled with the amount of Christmas paraphernalia bursting out of the isles. All of the stuff has a promise that is empty. I mean, it might smell nice or give us a good feeling for a while but it doesn't last the way the love of Jesus can fill up our hearts in a quiet and intimate love. The noise created by marketing in the stores is cute but overcrowds our senses. Some of it is good noise, cute noise and fun noise but it is noise in the end.
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| Your house can smell like the Nutcracker! |
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| Don't forget Fatty |
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| Huge chocolate ball!!! |
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| It will be 75% off on December 26th. |
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| Santa is so cute! |
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| I didn't even know these existed! |
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| Good-bye 2018! |
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| It actually smelled like chocolate. |
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| We could write another blog on racist cupcakes! I see no American Indians here, no brown people...the brownest character is a turkey! Racist cupcakes...no wonder you're marked down! |
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| A reminder that fall is over |
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| Santy Claus is coming for your waistline! |
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| The most delicious drink invented. Southern Comfort Eggnog with vanilla is my favorite! |
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| It's true! Butter trees! |
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| Cheesy chick-lit |
I don't really know if I have one point here. I have a few, but the main one I want to circle to is Silence. In 2018 I gave a lot of time to silence. Silence of the heart, silence of the mind, silence of speaking (even blogging). I could have done better but in a few moments of taking a vow of silence I really saw great beauty unfold in my heart, mind and relationships. I consciously made an effort for silence in imitation of Mary who was silent in so much of the Bible. In silence there is peace, and where there is peace you can pray closer with God. The "noise" in our head, lives and over-stimulation from everything technological can jolt that silence needed to listen.
A priest I heard at mass recently reminded us of the importance of silence for our hearts to be open and quiet ready to listen to the love God gives us. I went home, strapped on my hiking boots and went for a long walk after that mass. I cleared my head of noisy thoughts and looked up to the tops of the trees, felt the cold wind on my face and in the distance of the sky saw a hawk circling above. My mind said, "Thank you." And the trees and nature celebrated in silence the beauty of its Creator.
I hope that we all take moments of much needed silence from the noise and over-stimulation from stores, internet, society and ourselves these next few weeks before Christmas. Yes, Christmas should have a "feeling" but don't let the noise of it drive you nuts to feeling guilty, irritated, and ready for it to end before Christmas Day even arrives. Find your place of peace to go to a little while every day, and give yourself the gift of peace through silence and prayer from your heart in these days
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