Accentuating the Real?

Whose responsibility is it to censor happiness?

Is it the voice or the ear? Or should the positive be censored at all?

{continue...}

[via Desperate for changing, starving for truth]

That Would Take An Inspiration

Anyone else inundated with bright colored dancing cute things' ads telling you life isn't complete if you don't go to (your ad here)? And I got a kick out of seeing somewhere that there is a new way to view the festive Saturnalia/(your holiday of choice here) which is a big new sales event on Saturns.

This isn't just a season that threatens those now jobless with a bad time, it seems to be hell on wheels for shopaholics. I may have to get that Chia pet... to put away for next year. Okay, what I really want is some flight shoes....

Without the rampant buying spree that the Saturnalia season has become for those businesses, there will less for all those welfare CEO's.

Desperate times might remind our corporate sector that without a living wage, consumers mysteriously disappear. That would take an inspiration. Well, 'tis the season.{full post}

[via cab drollery, HT: The Seminal]

’tis the season for idolatry

[via Notes From Off-Center]

Will You Make Jesus Happy This Christmas?

[via The Rev's Rumbles]

Consumerism and middle ground

[via The Link Between]

Throw Away Problems

So after I've bought it again, I throw it away again. Some people do this with music. Some do it with friends. Why do we do it?

Because, it's easier to deal with the symptoms of a problem than it is the cause of a problem. Throwing away music and movies and other stuff is simple. Going inside to understand why I am drawn to these things or what need I feel they will feel is complicated. So I buy Fight Club. I throw away Fight Club. I buy Fight Club. I throw away Fight Club.

It's a problem.

[via Stuff Christians Like]

Lent to Justice

Sure I joked with my friends about giving up homework for Lent and even flirted with giving up chocolate a few times (how significant is denial if it doesn’t lead to spiritual reflection?), but Lent remained an odd tradition I played at and not a habit I embraced. I respected the idea of discipline, but balked at the legalism of giving up something just because that is what people do during Lent. Perhaps hearing my friends complain about how desperate they were for a cola and not hearing anything about how they had been affected spiritually fed my confusion. Lent just didn’t make sense, at least not in the popular ways I saw it conveyed and practiced.

Then I discovered the connection between Lent and justice.

[via Next-Wave Ezine, HT: onehandclapping]

Gifts and Resourcefulness

If one is to sell all one has and give it to the poor, or even just live a modest lifestyle, it become fairly difficult to develop and use certain talents, even for the greater good....

Generally only those who have money already and spend that money on themselves can develop that talent. Is that good stewardship?

[via onehandclapping]

Everything We Need

...if you got everything on your list this year, would you be happy?

I would. At least for a few days, until I would have to take advantage of the after-Christmas sales. Or until New Year's Eve, when I probably would need a new, cute top to wear. But then I would definitely be happy. Oh wait - then January comes and I know I'll need some new work-out clothes for the exercise program I start every year. I'll let you in on a little secret. I am never satisfied. There is always something else I want.

I think this is true of human beings in general. Children want to be grown-up. Singles want to be married. Some married couples desperately want children. Families with kids want a bigger house. You buy a new car, and 8 months later there's a newer, better model. People with curly hair straighten it. Those with straight hair perm it. Most women I know wish they were thinner. Thin women wish they were, well...curvier. We always want what we don't have.

This seems particularly relevant at this time of year when so many people, especially singles, experience disappointment. Why do we assume that if only this one thing were different in our lives we would be happy? ....Christmas is the best time to remember that we really do have everything we need.

[via The View From Her]

Man protests commercialized Christmas by crucifying Santa - literally

[via N.Y. Daily News]

Protesters picket 'Living Negativity Scene'

[via Wittenburg Blog]

What's Wrong with Christmas Consumerism

[via Kruse Kronicle]

Worship the Baby, Resist the Empire

[via Revolution in Jesusland]

Woman Delivered From Christmas Spirit

[via The Wittenburg Door]

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Hey, It's Close To Hallowe'en

The War on Christmas weapons

[via Bene Diction Blogs On]

Consisting Mostly of Air

So why is it when I'm not thinking about myself, life is pretty carefree, but when I'm faced with my own sinfulness and greed, all I see is death?

...Why, exactly? To live longer? To flee the emptiness of my own soul? To keep from going out and shooting someone myself?

...I guess our name is Legion.

[via The Wittenburg Blog]

The Wrong Tree

[via Been There...Still There]

Less Driving

During his State of the Union speech, President Bush and I both got a bit lost in the details of his domestic policy initiatives. Fortunately, WhiteHouse.gov offers a handy summary in language so simple that even a president can understand. So let's look at that "Twenty in Ten" energy proposal.

The purported goal is to reduce America's gasoline consumption by 20 percent in 10 years. That sounds ambitious until you realize that Blade Runner is set in 2019, which is only 12 years from now, and hybrid SUVs don't sound quite as impressive when compared with replicants and flying billboards advertising the off-world colonies....

Despite his stated goal -- consuming less gasoline -- the president can't seem to imagine the more obvious, more direct approach to this goal, i.e. driving less. Which makes this whole proposal sound like one of those weight-loss pill ads that promises results without diet or exercise.

If Bush really wanted to achieve a "20 in 10" reduction in gasoline consumption, he should recommit to fixing our urban schools. The dismal reality of these schools -- and the even more dismal perception of them -- is one of the biggest obstacles to reducing America's massive gasoline consumption habit.

Let me step back and explain. To reduce consumption, we need to reduce the demand for consumption. That means changing the conditions that contribute to that demand.

[via slacktivist]

"Get X Out of Xmas"

[via Philosophy Over Coffee]

Involved in the Hybrid

Are we the reason that Christmas is so messed up?

...Obviously we can't reverse what was done--we can't take Christmas away from the world. But we can make a conscious effort to change the way we celebrate the season. The struggle for us, as people deeply involved in the hybrid, is to really see ourselves and know what needs to change.

[via so scattered, emphasis mine]

A Difficult Birth

In the Land of False, Forced Options created by the prophets of culture warfare, no one can be inclusive or sensitive to others who are different. You are either for Christmas, or you are besieging it.

I had a dream that Jesus was born in the United States this Christmas. Mary gave birth in the county hospital because Joseph didn't have health insurance. The wise men couldn't visit the baby Jesus. They were denied visas because they were religious leaders from Iran. No one noticed that Jesus was born because they were too busy shopping and arguing over how to celebrate Christmas.

[via Ethics Daily.com, HT: Mainstream Baptist]