Black Friday

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balance, Black Friday, frenzy, gift-giving, hungry, materialism, mindfulness, No Kid Hungry, opportunity, Santa Claus, service, Thanksgiving, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Santa Claus arrived with a flourish yesterday at the culmination of the Thanksgiving Day parade in NY City. He was quite animated, bouncing and waving in all directions to announce that the run-up to Christmas had begun. Although Hallmark movies had been filling the airwaves with Christmas carols since sometime in October, now it’s official and very serious. The internet is awash with advertisements for all kinds of amazing discounts on products and services. I heard on the national news last night that even airline ticket prices are slashed “for a limited time.” What began as a day-long opportunity for deep price reductions on the day after Thanksgiving has been running for a week already, but is still named, ironically, Black Friday.

I recognize the value of shopping for gifts when prices are reduced but the frenzy that has been happening already in cities and towns across our country, especially last night and in the early hours of this morning, is a growing concern in a country of great wealth where at least 1 in 7 people (1 in 5 children) lack proper access to food during any given year. (Feeding America) Clay Dunn, chief communications officer at the nonprofit No Kid Hungry reminds us that often the issue for poor families is making difficult choices like whether to buy food or pay the electric bill.

There are certainly many organizations (including the two mentioned above) that strive to make us aware of the needs and give us the opportunity to be part of the solution to this and other issues of poverty in our country. I simply call our attention to the image of extreme materialism – leading sometimes to violence engendered by a crowd mentality – that manifests on this day, all in service to the “season of gift-giving.”

My prayer for all of us today is one of mindfulness and hope for a return to balance. With that intention, I plan to stay home today and consider my giving and getting that will hopefully lead to a simple, peaceful season of Advent that culminates in a meaningful celebration of Christmas.

 

 

 

 

 

Do you believe?

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believe, Christmas, Direct relationship, Gospel of Matthew, Jesus, miracles, Nicholas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nicholas Day, Santa Claus, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

There seems a direct relationship this morning between the feast of St. Nicholas which we celebrate today and the incident from Matthew’s gospel about two blind men who ask Jesus to have pity on them. We’ve already commented on the meaning of Santa Claus in our life which goes far beyond the material. As we know, St. Nicholas was a real person whose generosity and care lives on in Santa Claus, and the question is always one of belief in the power of that spirit to affect our lives. It seems, in fact, that every miracle includes an element of faith on the part of some major character in the story that is being recounted. The blind men shouted out to Jesus as he passed by them on the road, but it wasn’t until they followed him into a house and had a conversation – a personal encounter – with him that the real issue came to light. They were, by necessity, it seems, participant in the miracle that restored their sight. Jesus asked them a direct question before he acted; their answer sealed the deal. He asked: Do you believe that I can do this?

This seems a good reflection point for us when we are moved to ask for a large, or even a small, miracle from God.

Let the Children Lead

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Advent, Christmas, Christmas by medium, Gospel of Luke, Incarnation, Isaiah, Jesus, Santa Claus, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

In a roundabout way this morning, I am led to reflect on Santa Claus. I tend to be one of those Bah! Humbug! types, resisting all mention of Christmas until December 24th when the season of Advent gives way to the joy of Incarnation. That trait is, of course, one instilled in me in childhood, a very long and lovely time ago, and is fueled by what seems the feverish need in our society to spend as much money as possible buying all the latest things that we cannot do without. This year, however, I am finding my resistance cracking as I sit many evenings with one of my housemates who loves the Hallmark Christmas movies – at least three or four of which are offered to us every day! (Thankfully there are 12 new ones this year and we have our fill at least by the second one…and not every night.) What’s happening as I watch is that I realize the pre-eminent role of children as the wisest of the movie’s characters as well as the focus on love and transformation that appears as a theme in each presentation. Often, a child will ask an adult if he or she believes in Santa Claus and the answer is never a gratuitous “YES!” but rather speaks of the spirit of love and generosity that symbolizes what Santa means. And by the end of the movie, all the adults come around to the truth.

When I read, therefore, from the prophet Isaiah that on that day, the wolf shall be the guest of the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, I think of those children for whom all things seem possible and no one need be an enemy. Isaiah continues: There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord…with a little child to guide them.

The gospel carries on the theme as Luke 10 has Jesus praying, I give you praise, Father…Although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, you have revealed them to the childlike. Traditionally I have seen translations of that last word as ‘little children’ or even “the merest children” but it makes more sense today as a quality that is possible for those of us who are already advanced in age.

So today I will give thanks for the children and the childlike ones in my life who have taught me to live life, not judging by appearance or hearsay (Is. 11) but looking to the heart for the deep meanings of things and finding there the spirit that is the best of this season and of every day of our lives.