Every seven years, Christmas falls on a Sunday which used to be a traditional day of rest in Christian societies. That changed many years ago in Canada coinciding with stores being open on Sundays. In Thailand, a Buddhist country, Christmas falling on a Sunday, means the stores ramp up even more for Christmas sales. I don't think the average Thai buys a present for their significant other, but they may take advantage of the sales to buy something for themselves.
Pope Francis chimed in today stating that materialism has taken over Christmas. I am not sure where he has been the past 20 years but it should not have been a revelation to him. Christmas, and the associated boxing day sales is the biggest shopping period of the year, with Black Friday being the warm up.
So what is Christmas all about. In Thailand, it seems to be the warm up for New Years. In North America it is all about presents and perhaps, getting together with family, unfortunately, where the major topic of conversation seems to be. 'What did you get for Christmas?'. Sad, really.
Christianity is really about community and family and that is why traditionally, Christians got together to celebrate the life and death of Jesus. They often got together, despite being hunted down and persecuted, making getting together in a group, rather dangerous. Muslems, pride themselves on praying five times a day, but this is often done in seclusion, except when their schedule permits them to get to their local mosque.
I consider Christmas as a time for reflection on how you live your life in relation to the teachings of the new gospel especially in relation to friends and family. Maybe we should consider it a precursor to your New Year resolutions which often fail to last the month of January. However, don't beat yourself up on your failings, because it is so easy to fail when caught up in such a materialistic society.
Of course it is easy for me to say because I have divested myself of 4 cars, a house, and 2 motorcycles, plus a houseful of things I thought I needed, but not needed. Everything I own except for my 55 inch 4K television fits in 2 suitcases and I can sincerely say I am very, very happy. The television is used mostly by jaidan who watches educational videos on YouTube. It freed up my 32 inch Curved Samsung monitor so I can write my blog and complete my programming tasks more efficiently.
I used to think that the boy who died with the most toys won .. but now realize, you can't take those same toys with you .. consider them baggage on the journey of life ..
TTYL
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