Holiday Questions
Tuesday, November 9th, 2010There was a time when baseball had its own season, and so did football and basketball and hockey. Recently all of those overlapped, and all four of those team sports were playing real games at the same time. Like selling Christmas stuff in October, that’s just wrong.
The end-of-the-year holidays in the U.S. used to be more separated—we would finish with one before we started the next. Back then, Halloween came clearly before Thanksgiving, which came clearly before Christmas. This year I saw Christmas decorations, including artificial trees, for sale before Halloween. Thanksgiving, I fear, may get squeezed out all together.
I suppose that makes sense, because the retailers (except grocers) don’t get much revenue from Thanksgiving, so the earlier they can start selling for Christmas, the more revenue they have an opportunity to make.
One thing that hasn’t changed about holidays, though, is that different Christians view them in various, and often conflicting, ways.
The two most important holidays on the Christian calendar, at least from my perspective, are Easter and Christmas. I want to celebrate the resurrection of my Lord, and I also find it desirable to celebrate his birth. Even the world celebrates them both, although the world gives more emphasis to Christmas–especially the whole gold, frankincense, and a shiny new Lexus thing.
There are not a few Christians, however, who perhaps lose much of the joy and opportunity (more…)
The best suggestion I’ve heard about how to respond came from Keith Mitchell, one of the elders at PACC, who said we ought to trade Bibles for porn. No doubt someone somewhere in the country, perhaps even in Texas, is already doing that.
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Summer is here, and the kids are out of school. Yay. Oh, the bliss.
Along with several thousand other Christians, I spent much of last week in one of America’s most beautiful places, 
I’ve given up suggesting he throw them out or convert them to rags because he just says no, or, when pushed, “I prefer not.” I can’t fire his speaking coaches,