The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

I really detest the way that Black Friday follows so closely on the heels of Thanksgiving Day. The dishes at my gathering weren't even dry before the talk switched from count your blessings to iPods and DVDs. My friend J-- and I decided to blow the whole shopping thing off and instead spent Friday volunteering as bellringers for The Salvation Army. Afterwards, we rode along with Lamont as she checked out some other collection stands at the mall.

One thing that we noticed about people was that they were smiling when they threw a few bucks in our kettle. But as people streamed out of the mall, nobody was smiling -- even though they were walking out with bags of gifts. When J-- and I were freezing our butts off outside the Post Office, a mailman took time out of his schedule to bring us out cups of hot chocolate. But there was no time to spare at the mall -- we watched one car repeatedly get cut off as it tried to exit the parking lot. Some of the drivers even yelled.

I remember last year hearing about a poll where men were asked their greatest Christmas wish. The number one answer was world peace. Number two? A wide screen TV. It's as if we have our dreams for a better world, but we keep our more realistic amusements and distractions waiting in the wings, just in case.

When buying things for our loved ones becomes a curse rather than a blessing it's time for us to reevaluate how we're going to celebrate the holidays. I don't want the parties and get togethers this season to be just another obligation on my already overloaded to-do list. I don't want to be so fixed on the next bargain that I can't share some courtesy with the people around me. I don't want to feel like I'm buying the approval of Lamont and the kids on Christmas morning.

I don't want to live in a world where Black Friday exists but Advent doesn't.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light...