Christmas.

So today I went to Target to do some Christmas shopping. As I was walking around doing my best to stay in step with the subliminal SPEND MORE MONEY Christmas music I couldn't help but notice all of the incredibly happy, smiling faces surrounding me. Okay, so there were no smiling faces - actually as I walked past the plethora of Christmas decorations and that wonderful little machine that has about fifty different Christmas albums that you can choose from for your listening pleasure I watched no less that seven women pushing shopping carts with the the most incredible look of hatred completely saturating their faces, at this moment it became brutally clear to me how completely consumed we have all become with this "season".

I hate Christmas. I know, I know - hate is a strong word, but to be completely honest I think it is completely applicable for this situation. While I could easily go through all of the historical and biblical inaccuracies with "Christmas" (wrong time of year, moved to replace a pagan winter festival) my biggest issue with it is the strong (understatement) commercialization of a holiday that is (meant) to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

As I watched these women walking around with this look on their face as if their souls had literally been sucked out of them it pulled me down. I was at Target checking out the prices for a "Wii". My Mom has wanted one for years and I want to get he something that will really make her happy. At the moment I saw these women and realized why I was there it really bummed me out. I'm not materialistic at all, I often tell people "If you must get me a present just grab the first thing that you see and makes you think 'Man, Eric would like this.', that'll stoke me out" - but I know that not everyone is like that - most people aren't like that. I know that my Mom won't be happy with a mediocre Christmas present, I've experienced her outrage when I get her something from my heart instead of something from her list. That is what society has taught us, and we've gobbled it up.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to knock my mom or anyone like her - She has given and given and given for years and I think she fully deserves to receive for once, but when it comes down to it the focus for this season is dripping with commercialism and it's hard to find Jesus anywhere. I know we hear this every year but the truth is that for most of us, it never sinks in.

Lately I've been having some crazy thoughts, I know once I write them and you read them they won't sound crazy at all - but if you were to post these things in a mall, people would just laugh at them. What if we were to take all of the money we spend on Christmas ($700 per person is the average) and give it to a charity? I mean I hear of charities that can easily feed 100 children for a full month for only $100 - for $700 dollars you could feed several villages of adults and children for a full month. If twelve of us got together we could feed several villages for a full year! There are 245MILLION257THOUSAND292 adults in the US today. In a world where some can't even afford to keep themselves hydrated we spend $171,687,104,400 on Christmas presents alone in the US. That's more than 245.26 times THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE WORLD! That said, if we were to ALL donate our "Christmas" money to feeding the needy FOR ONE YEAR we could easily feed the ENTIRE WORLD POPULATION OF 2011 FOR 20 years and then through May of the 21st year.

Yes, that is all crazy talk - I digress.

Cause no matter how much anyone says about how incredibly corrupt this holiday has become or how easily we have taken the focus off of Jesus - we will all (including myself out shopping for a Wii) continue to perpetuate the problem. Change is an option, I only hope that my future wife and I am strong enough to live it and I hope the same for you as well.