Friday, November 28, 2008

Black Friday Indeed

Black Friday Indeed

Each year around this time, I start to wrestle with two warring voices in my head. The one that says, "Time to make my list!! Let's see... Xbox 360?... iPhone?... Tickle Me Larry the Cable Guy?" -- and the quieter, prophetic one that warns of the onslaught of consumerism headed my way.

I'm not going to lie, I LOVE getting presents. Sure, I like getting new things... SHINY things... things with BUTTONS and bright LED screens! But more than all of that, I love the look on my wife's face when she realizes that she picked out the perfect gift. I love the look on my parents' faces when they get to spoil their little... er... big boy.

But when I hear stories like this, I just want to be done with the whole dang circus that is the Holiday Season. I'm sure there was a time when this season really was about giving... loving... Peace on Earth... Good Will Towards Men and whatnot. Can we get back to that time?

what have we become?



A Ture Conspiracy
  • Did you know that on average, Americans spend $450 billion a year on holiday gifts?! That's $450,000,000,000!!
  • Did you you know that NOTHING kills more people every day than lack of clean water?!
  • And did you know that the estimated cost to bring clean water to EVERYONE ON EARTH is only $10 billion?!
I'm not saying that we forgoe the gift-giving festivities. I'm NOT saying that giving gifts is evil or wrong. But look at those numbers... something is wrong. What if we changed our priorities this year? What if we all gave up one gift and spent the money on something else?

It's called the Advent Conspiracy


Here are some great ideas!!


What are some of YOUR ideas?! How can we GIVE?! How can we change the world?!

3 comments:

Karly said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Good thoughts...

I wonder though if Greg decided not to celebrate Christmas would his unspent $500 actually make a difference in the world?

Obviously it COULD if that money was used elsewhere wisely...

But then again a lot of these organizations don't use money given to them wisely...

Anonymous said...

This also, is one of those, "Pay it forward" ideas that could change the world if it truly caught on. I can say that this year I will not be spending the usual money but making all of my gifts. Unfortuneatly though, I still don't have the money to give. But I do believe in the possibility of changing the world through this type of thinking. Preach on brotha. Preach on.