‘Tis the Season (Ready or Not)
Posted by Josh McDonald on November 18, 2008
Hard to believe, but we’re less than two weeks from the beginning of Advent. And only ten days now from that High Holy Day of Consumerism known as “Black Friday” — as well as its cultural counterpoint, “Buy Nothing Day” (or, alternately, blogger Jason Evans’ “Make Something Day“).
Personally, I’m all for anything that helps drive the moneychangers out of our Feast of the Nativity. It feels somehow indecent to start decorating for Christmas before we’ve quite finished with All Souls (to say nothing of Thanksgiving).
But after reading about “Make Something Day” on the Sojourners blog, I found myself thinking of other ways to celebrate the start of the cultural Christmas Season. “Donate to Your Local Food Pantry Day”, maybe? Or “Visit a Shut-In Day”?
These are just a few off the top of my head; I’m sure creative Christians everywhere could come up with plenty of ideas to reclaim our holy day. The point is to remember what one of our contemporary prophets said so eloquently:
Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.
tinythinker said
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…
“It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages boxes, or bags!”
Josh McDonald said
Once, some time ago, I had the thought of trying to write a “children’s Bible”, with all the verses done in a Dr. Seussian style and meter.
I still love the idea, but have come to realize that darn that’s a lot of work.