Merry Month before Christmas!!!!

Now that I am ensconced in the Wonderful World of Retail again, I have remembered my ancient aversion to Christmas.

Now don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. I love the thought of what it means, I love the idea of God submitting to the pains of birth so that He can eneter the world like one of us. The Faithfulness of Joseph and Mary, the wonder of those who came and witnessed Baby Jesus.... this is amazing, wonderful and awesome stuff.

But its not retail Christmas. Retail Christmas is the process by which we get you to buy more stuff than last year. Retail Christmas is merchandising the stock, rotating the displays, focusing the view and cycling the staff. Its people jostling, shoving, pushing to get the last widget in the pile, or the batteries for said widget.

My warehouse see's it all come and go. The truck drivers pull up and we unload truck after truck after truck after truck after... well you get the idea I think. Its a never ending process of stuff for money.

This is what I hate. The tension, the mobs, the tears, the anger, the grouches, the sneaks and thieves, those who prey on people who just want to make a child smile, but don't realize they are going about it the wrong way...

As I walk around my store, I get the feeling that I can see Jesus in the temple, the day that he drove out the moneychangers. I fear that my store is something that He would drive out. Because we encourage the greed and hatefulness and dissatisfaction in people. We tell them that they need the next best thing, that they want this and that. Get in line, pull out that credit card, spend spend spend!

I am sorry Lord. Take me somewhere else...

Geoff