Posted on 11/03/2007 7:43:11 PM PDT by kathsua
As the plastic of the "holi-daze" emerges from retail storage, let me be the first to wish everyone a "happy Hallowthankmass." This is the annual two-month binge of self-centeredness, self-indulgence and self-satisfaction. This is the season to be sinister, to be stuffed, and to squander.
On Oct. 31, we'll celebrate ugliness, horror and fear! We again will teach our little ones to be extortionists! Trick or treat is extortion. We sensationalized terror and glorify fear. Why is there so much horror in our world? We celebrate it every Halloween.
Then on the fourth Thursday of November, we celebrate gluttony. On turkey day, with that over-stuffed feeling, we burp and move on to a festival of violence: football. Hopefully, between the feast and the football some nod of gratitude is uttered to God for all the good things we've enjoyed. Sadly most assume that our bountiful blessings are the result of our own meritorious efforts. Few ask, "Why me" around the Thanksgiving table. Fewer still offer contrition for this gluttonous orgy and blithely remain indifferent to the world's starving masses. Accountability to God and gratitude due God are simply buried beneath the stuffing and mashed potatoes.
The "grand finale" is on December 25, when consumer consumption is raised to the level of the absurd. After a frenzy of buying, unneeded gifts are exchanged that at best can bring only fleeting pleasure. Within days, most "must gifts" will be broken, out of style, or stashed away. Yet through December, the ever faithful beg the jolly old elf to supply them all the stuff that he promises will bring eternal bliss. This fabled phony is dubbed the spirit of giving. Only in January, our illusions again are shattered when the spirit of paying arrives. We face again the truth that the elf gives nothing; his bills are delivered. We vow that next year will be different, it never is. We go on believing that this grand illusion will have some lasting meaning, but it never does. However, for those dogged disciples of Hallothankmass, "may the force be with you."
Of course, there is an alternative. There is a way that is real, a truth that is solid and a life that is free. November 1 is All Saints Day, when all are invited to worship the Lord and give thanks for those who brought us to His truth. On Thanksgiving Day we can pause, ponder and prepare our feasting with deep gratitude and a humble awareness that our blessings far exceed our worthiness. We can pray for those who hunger while we feast. And we can forfeit the game and let the young men pummel each other without our support. In December we can prepare for Christ-mass through Advent, in muted anticipation as we wait the day of His coming. Then we can celebrate fully the 12 days of Christ-mass, forestalling gift exchanges till after the 25th (it is much cheaper). The conclusion of all this joy is on January 6, Epiphany. Such a plan rejects horror, tempers gluttony, spares the pocket book and calms the frenzy, while rejoicing in the way, the truth and the life that is ours for eternity. You might try it; it is good for your health.
About 90% of the little girls were dressed as princesses. As preteens it’s kinda cute. When they’re grown up it’s sure to be annoying as hell for the men in their lives.
Sorry ladies. Unless you’re born in an inbred family (not in the Appalachians) you cannot be a princess.
Our family opted out of the plastic holiday of Christmas some years ago. Now we all meet for church services, a wonderful meal, no gifts, no football and lots of fun and visiting. Ahhhhh....so much better. For the rest of the relatives....we just tell them that we celebrate Christmas as a family and no longer “exchange gifts” so they can leave us off their lists as well. I can’t tell you how much less stress-ridden I am!
I think it is an appallingly negative article. What a sour old man he appears to be! He sounds like a Jehovah’s Witness, filled with contempt for the holiday fun of others.
I love Halloween because it is the triumph of fun, happiness, childish joy, and celebration over what was once a Satanic witches’ holiday (Samhain). And there is nothing in the world wrong with little girls dressing up like princesses or Disney characters, or little boys (like my son) dressing up like King Leonidas of Sparta.
Thanksgiving, of course, celebrates the great bounty the Lord has granted us. It’s a time for family and friends to come together in terms of contentment and fondness. Despite the labor involved, for us it’s one of the happiest days of the year. Do we eat too much? Yes, but so what?—the rest of the year we are healthy and abstemious.
As for Christmas: again, this is a time of joy, and I can’t imagine that the Lord dislikes seeing His creatures happy. Our Christmas is truly merry with singing and other forms of music, prayer, church, visits from friends and relations, hiking in the snowy woods, visits to historic houses, work in the church, work in the house and the fading garden, cooking, decorating, sewing. It’s a most productive and happy time. Do we spend too much? Probably. But I buy no junk and the rest of the year save carefully, so what harm can there be?
The Lord Jesus Christ is not forgotten on any day of the year in our home, nor is He forgotten in millions of other homes. I can see no possible harm in celebrating holidays, even if the way we celebrate displeases this joyless writer.
Yes, lets give up all these meaningless holidays and worship the environment, diversity, and the UN. Instead of buying candy on Halloween, Turkey on Thanksgiving,
Gifts on Christmas, and Booze for the New Year, we will instead pay taxes to bureaucrats—who will then transfer our wealth to Third World hell holes. Only then will we achieve true happiness.
bah, humbug.
Thanksgiving is about F&F (food and football) There may be the casual mention of the less fortunate, but hardly a whisper of the Lord.
Christmas is a time of joy...PRESENTS! I really dislike shopping at the one of the world's largest malls. It's akin to a Mad Max world.
Yeah, it’s wonderful to participate in all the glorious holidays as we Christians do. However, I’m just calling what I’ve seen. Now as to me being a good Witness for Christ...well, I’ll try harder.
Fewer still offer contrition for this gluttonous orgy and blithely remain indifferent to the world's starving masses.
Father, tell us how giving up turkey, dressing, and football is going to feed the starving children of wherever. And why should I be "contrite" because I live in America and have a turkey?
Hitchins doesn’t like Holidays because they are Holy days. I too am an unbeliever, but a reluctant one. Hitch wallows in his.
If you lose your Holidays, you lose your culture.
Halloween, if you live in a neighborhood like I do, (a place where you know and care about the neighbors, not an address), Halloween is a chance to watch the kids grow up. We only get about 100 each year, but my wife knows the names of the older ones and can guess who’s behind the littler masks by whose hand they’re holding.
Don’t let people like Hitch, or the uber-religious steal your holidays. Lose Christmas and I assure you you will eventually lose Christ. That, of course, is the atheist’s intention.
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