When I was a kid the holidays politely waited their turn in line. Thanksgiving would take the baton from Halloween and then pass it along to Christmas.  Now the Holidays clamor for attention like a spoiled child at the mall. I have been receiving Christmas catalogs for weeks and the stores were filled with Christmas displays by Halloween. By the way, you will note that I am a proud user of the term Christmas for the December 25th event that is known on the federal calendar as Christmas Day.  That was a bonus mini-rant. No charge. Last year I wrote about what I wanted for Christmas. I started with a list of things I really, really wanted. Everything at the Bose store The latest version of my Trio phone  (I don’t have the Windows version for heaven’s sake!) Several pounds of books Dozens of DVD’s Then I listed everything I really, really needed. Yep. I didn’t need a single thing for Christmas. I give bags
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For weeks I have been watching the work crews building a fiber-optic network in our neighborhood. I could not wait to get rid of my cable service. I won’t mention the company by name but it rhymes with Dime Corner. I was so excited to switch to the new technology. I was giddy when the installer showed up yesterday. I told him that I would be happy to allow his company to videotape me telling my current provider to take a flying leap. His response was professional. And convicting. “We don’t say bad things about our competitors. We just tell you about our product and let you decide.” This was not an aberration. I recalled a similar exchange I had with another employee when I set up my installation. I was joking again about doing a commercial about getting rid of cable and she replied gently. “We don’t criticize our competition.” Two things hit me. First was how professional these
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I have a new business idea. When faith gets challenged or offended by a movie, book, television show or stupid celebrity quote I am going to sell an evangelistic hyperventilation bag. This paper bag, featuring stylish cross artwork on one side and a fish insignia on the other, will allow beleaguered Christians to witness as they hyperventilate over the latest dire e-mail warning to boycott, plunder and protest. The most recent threat to faith and, according to some distraught sources, God’s sovereign plan on earth is an upcoming movie called The Golden Compass. I recall that God and His people have somehow weathered other recent crises like The DaVinci Code, The Book of Daniel TV show, Madonna’s stage presentation, the Lost Tomb of Jesus and a veritable parade of books by atheists who could use the non-religious version of my hyperventilation bag when discussing God. Yet somehow, the God that I believe created the heavens and earth has survived the punches of Hollywood, television
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