Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Call me Scrooge...

I know I'm not the only one who cares nothing about the holiday that is approaching fast. You see it all over Facebook.  Either you're giddy with Christmas fever or so over it.  Personally, I haven't been joyful, ecstatic, celebratory, blah, blah, blah, about Christmas for as long as I can remember.  Every year I ponder the question of "why not be excited" for a moment but as soon as my ADD mind moves on to what's my speed (I was driving tonight when the thought occurred), it rarely recurs until, well, next Christmas.  I guess I've just accepted that I don't care that much about the retail payload, that I just don't like Christmas music, that there's a 99.9% chance of temperatures in the 60s with NO snow, that traffic will be triple what it normally is from black Friday to December 26, and that those incessant bells accompanying the red bucket will be making my ears ring for 6 months.  Yes, I'm a Scrooge.

But why?  Again, that is the question (well, at least for today).  I am a believer in Jesus Christ, Immanuel, Prince of Peace.  Why am I not joyful and in the mood to celebrate in song and nog and mistletoe?  Why do I feel like hurling when the scent of cinnamon pine cones slaps me in the face as soon as I walk into EVERY store?  Why doesn't my heart warm at the sound of O Holy Night?  The bible says, "BEHOLD, a child is born".  That word behold tells me "TAKE NOTICE!  THIS IS A BIG BIG DEAL!"  And I don't mean blue light special on aisle 9.  It means the God of the universe has arranged for a play date that turns very serious at age 9.  It means, "it's time!".  The old testament is rife with references to this very birth.  It also means that in 33 years, every sin you and I have ever and will ever commit is paid for with bloodshed.  So why can't I just focus on that?  Is it because I am bombarded with  "Christmas" and not Jesus?  You may say, "what about all the little phrases like Jesus is the reason for the season and the carols."  As true as these utterances are, they seem cheap in comparison to the what we are actually celebrating.  It seems that if you live in America you celebrate Christmas no matter what your religion is which takes away the uniqueness of it.  And so, I fear, the hype that surrounds such a pivotal event has hardened my heart.  This makes me sad.  For years, I have pondered my state of mind on this and come to no conclusions.  Perhaps my friend, Jesus, can chime in on this one and show me the Christmas light.  

Monday, November 21, 2011

To Blog or Not to Blog...

That is the question. It has always been the question.  I have an aversion to the idea of spewing one's life across the pages of mass media.  Mostly because every time I think I want to do it, I can't come up with a single topic or dramatic story that won't offend someone.  So, then I think about all the blogs I know of and have read (that amounts to about 3) and am totally turned off by the drivel people "blog" about.  Does anybody really care that your cooking skills are off the chain?  Is your sex life going to change anything except your own health status? I'm convinced that none of this matters to anyone but you.  Is it an attempt to attract the attention you feel your "talent" deserves or possibly an outlet for information/feelings/blah blah blah?  Because of this, I think, "I can't blog.  I don't want to be like every other sap that blogs."  But the truth is,  I actually have a whole slew of unemotional nonsense bouncing around in my central neurological organ that might be kinda fun to let out.

So blog, it is!  I took a poll once to see what my pals would read.  The options were nursing school, CrossFit, nutrition, or the life of a super secret ninja wife with the former 3 options complicating the latter.  Of course, the votes ran the gamut, thus resulting in no blog.  I guess if I'm going to spew, I'll just have to incorporate all of these things as they are all significant parts of my life, which no one is that interested in anyway.  Between now and tomorrow, I will see what I can come up with that may pique one person's interest.  Wish me the proverbial luck!