CYBER MONDAY

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Welcome to CYBER MONDAY!  For anyone who may be lost, today is the online version of BLACK FRIDAY.  Today, those who overspent on Friday (and even on Thursday this year) will have the additional opportunity to compound the problem with the click of a mouse.  Ah, the wonderful times we live in!

Someone wrote on Thanksgiving Day, "And now begins the Christmas season, when each one of us can worship at the mall of our choice".  How true is that?  How sad is that?  We celebrate the arrival of the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS who came to set the captive free by spending ourselves into bondage.  How ironic is that?

Around here at the Allen house, for years we've celebrated the 12 days of Christmas.  For each of the 12 days leading up to Christmas Day, we've given some small gift to each of our children.  My wife, (she's the smart one in the family) suggested that this year we continue the tradition, but with a twist.  That instead of buying things to give to our children (only one at home, and only now and then), that we look for 12 other ways to give.  Possibly provide a meal for a family.  Maybe, just the gift of time with folks we never get to spend time with.  Possibly serve someone who has a need.  The opportunities are endless.

I think the idea is to make sure we're doing what Jesus would want, rather than just making sure everybody else gets what they want.  It's zeroing in on the Spirit of Christ more than the spirit of Christmas.  It's recognizing that the birth of Christ and Christmas have come to be very different things. It's about opting for worshipping Christ, rather than worshipping Christmas.

I'm not sure what your plans are for this season.  But, I do invite you to simplify....de-pressurize...think giving, not just spending...they really aren't the same.  One is so much better than the other, with long-lasting results.

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