I've written several posts lately and left them as drafts.
Here are some thoughts. I see people who have opinions and are passionate, and even if I don't agree with them, I'm like, "GOOD FOR YOU!" because at least they haven't picked everything apart until there is nothing left except except coexisting (I do that a lot). I do believe in truth, and I also believe that not everything is black and white.
I posted an article that I really like about not shopping on Thanksgiving or Black Friday. I agree with it, especially being someone who worked retail for four years. Honestly, Black Friday wasn't too bad at my store because we sold expensive shoes and gave minimal discounts. We weren't like Wal-mart. The dread of Black Friday came from the depravity of man that I experienced year round.
I know there is another side of this story. Some people want to work holidays because they have no family or their family life isn't great. I get that. But that doesn't take away from the black hearted consumerism that takes place as people get trampled and stabbed over a television. People have their traditions, and that's fine. But when your tradition goes against the entire idea of the holiday, I just don't get it (thankfulness and greed and green beans). But then again, what's so wrong with buying a TV for a nice discount?
I don't know. All I know is we can pick this apart all November. The root is that people are dark, and anything that dehumanizes someone is evil. Bullying, human slavery, trampling someone. Of course, as Christians we can go into that and try to make it better by being nice to a sales associate? Sure, that is really nice actually. Brighten someone's day, and get your discount. I sound like I'm being sarcastic, but I'm really not. I don't have an answer.
Anyway, I've tried to find my passion/soapboxes and not be afraid to share them, but I think ultimately I just want it to be the gospel infiltrating my life and what I do. And perhaps that means being quiet about certain subjects. Like shopping on Thanksgiving.
:)
Well, I loved that post. I do cringe when someone speaks strongly on certain things, saying it's the only way to think or be. If ever I posted something that someone wanted to argue about with me, I'd lose sleep over that disrupted friendship. No fun.
ReplyDeleteSo, I keep opinions to myself usually. But yours was a good one to share, I think. We're all so darn materialistic. We tend to get defensive over things we don't want to believe are true of ourselves.