So....this is the Holidays?

Looking in the mirror I see blurry, bloodshot eyes over puffy dark circles. I've gained a few pounds munching on the ever-present goodies that sit on every coffee table, break room bar, and hospitality area in town. The red in my necktie reminds me it is almost Christmas.

The month of December, in theory, is to be this mystical, fun, totally exhilarating season where one is to live a fairy tale-like existence. When the shroud of childhood mist burns away, one is likely to be sorely disappointed at the reality of the 'real' holiday season. Discovering there is "really no Santa Claus" is minor compared to discovering that the holidays can be one of the most stressful seasons of the year. Here is why.

If you work off a January fiscal year, then you are working hard to get 'year end' items, reports etc wrapped up. Then there are budgets for the coming year. There are financial stresses. This is the jolly time to be spending money on presents. Too many times we spend money we don't have and wind up putting more and more pressure on ourselves. Then there is the general constitution of everyone else. They are stressed too....and thus the barometer of 'stressure' in the general public accelerates. People honk more...yell more....express themselves w one finger.....and carry the desperate look of being under the gun. It's the holidays people!!

The calendar is a major factor too. Everyone wants to have a party so we can 'appear' happy. We fill the little squares with dates, banquets, parties, meals, meetings, and times of 'joyous' celebration. "Oh come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant...." While folks fill the banquet hall....and fill their bellies....and fill their shopping carts.....and fill their maximum credit line....they are often more than willing, during all their filling, to leave their seats at church empty. The offering plate looks as meager as Cratchet's penny bank and some have little time for the things that really matter.

So we go on with our traditions. Snow men, plastic Santa's and reindeer, colored lights and ....and what? More unhappiness, more crime, more poverty, more pretending, more emptiness, more sadness, more drinking to stop the pain, more denial. We shoot our guns as strains of silent night waft in the background. Blood runs the same color as Santa's suit. And who cares? This is the holidays!!

Don't you wish we could just really have time to slow down and enjoy being together without the hype? What if the holidays meant you could go no where, and had to stay at home with your family to share stories and express the love we have for one another. When God came to this earth, He came to a simple stable to bring a simple message. God loves you and that is all we really need.