Post Thanksgiving Madness
Yesterday morning, even before the crack of dawn, I was roused from my beautiful, tryptophan-induced slumber, content in the knowledge that my beloved Dallas Cowboys had once again triumphed on Thanksgiving, and stumbled through my morning ablutions. It was 3:00 a.m.. No, that's not a typo. You may well ask why - I did the same, especially after I found out that the temperature was hovering somewhere around the low-40's. It was because, as the officer in charge of The Salvation Army in my community, I had agreed to place our emergency canteen (think mobile kitchen) at the local Best Buy the night before so that we would be in place to offer hot chocolate, coffee and breakfast pastries to the people who had camped out all night and were waiting (rather patiently, it appeared) to be the first in the door to get the 'good buys' that were promised on Black Friday.
We (my dad was visiting for the holiday) arrived at about 4:00, and our assistant was already in place with a group of teenagers who had enthusiastically volunteered for the assignment. For the next two-and-a-half hours, we made up cups of hot chocolate and coffee and passed out danishes, donuts, muffins, and so forth. The night before, when we took the unit out, there was already a small 'tent city,' and someone had brought out a basketball goal and were playing in the parking lot. It was tottaly unreal. When we finally left the parking lot, we counted that we had served somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 cups of hot chocolate/coffee.
One of my online acquaintances, who self-identifies as a nonchristian observed that many of these are the same people who will complain about getting up in time to make a 9:45 a.m. Sunday School, but think nothing of getting up at 4:00 to make a sale. In his words, 'that's messed up.' I agree.
In my online wanderings, I came across something called the Advent Conspiracy, which is a movement of Christians to reinforce the idea of the 'true meaning of Christmas,' and focus on the goal of "restoring the scandal of Christmas by worshiping Jesus through compassion, not consumption." They plan to do this by encouraging believers to "Worship more, spend less, give more, and love all.' I thought a lot about that movement while watching the people eager to spend more, but in the end give less, and certainly not worship Jesus more.
The kettle drive is progressing nicely, classes are winding down, but finals are looming.
Hope you had a restful, bountiful, and wonderful Thanksgiving, and may it remind you of all the things you have to be thankful for!
We (my dad was visiting for the holiday) arrived at about 4:00, and our assistant was already in place with a group of teenagers who had enthusiastically volunteered for the assignment. For the next two-and-a-half hours, we made up cups of hot chocolate and coffee and passed out danishes, donuts, muffins, and so forth. The night before, when we took the unit out, there was already a small 'tent city,' and someone had brought out a basketball goal and were playing in the parking lot. It was tottaly unreal. When we finally left the parking lot, we counted that we had served somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 cups of hot chocolate/coffee.
One of my online acquaintances, who self-identifies as a nonchristian observed that many of these are the same people who will complain about getting up in time to make a 9:45 a.m. Sunday School, but think nothing of getting up at 4:00 to make a sale. In his words, 'that's messed up.' I agree.
In my online wanderings, I came across something called the Advent Conspiracy, which is a movement of Christians to reinforce the idea of the 'true meaning of Christmas,' and focus on the goal of "restoring the scandal of Christmas by worshiping Jesus through compassion, not consumption." They plan to do this by encouraging believers to "Worship more, spend less, give more, and love all.' I thought a lot about that movement while watching the people eager to spend more, but in the end give less, and certainly not worship Jesus more.
The kettle drive is progressing nicely, classes are winding down, but finals are looming.
Hope you had a restful, bountiful, and wonderful Thanksgiving, and may it remind you of all the things you have to be thankful for!