Skip to main content

Back to blogging

I've taken a little time off from sharing thoughts here and instead used the blog as a repository for Bible study recordings. I will continue with that for the remainder of the study. But I decided to get back to sharing thoughts and wonderings.

And really one thing has brought me back to this place of happy thoughts (well, not always happy): Christmas. Not Christmas in the sense of family memories or even high liturgical significance. Nope. What brought me back to blogging is one simple question: have people lost their minds?

Two weeks ago. Not today. Not next Friday. Two weeks ago yesterday. November 4. I was in Hastings to spend some money that I was blessed with from my church. By the way, a big "Thank You" again to the Turpin church for that blessing. But I was looking around for something meaningful and productive and reflective of the spirit with which the church gave me that gift. I was looking for video games. But blasting over the in-store music was Christmas music. Not just a song now and then. The entire music programming was Christmas music. In the first week of November.

Then, last week I was driving home from EMT class. And there was a house with it's Christmas lights turned on. Not just a simple strand of lights around the eaves of the house. Thousands of little lights everywhere.

Last night I was going into EMT class and someone had an elaborate Christmas light display turned on.

And Lisa (as well as an unnamed member of the church - who supposedly works for the local pizza restaurant) is all excited about getting their Christmas decorations up.

Yes. I am Ebeneezer Scrooge.

But come on. Really. 2 months before Christmas is a little extravagant. I have been saying for years now that Halloween will become the next big Christmas shopping event. It will eventually rival Black Friday and December 26th as one of the financial windfalls for retailers. This year is proof of the creep in that direction.

There can be too much of a good thing.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What dreams may come

Now it's time to say goodbye To all our company.... The Mickey Mouse Club closed out it's episodes by singing this tune. I feel the time has come to sing this song for my blog. It isn't that I don't have anything say. It has more to do with my change and changing life.  I am still very much a postmodern - even though that word is not used anymore. Modernity has slipped and is a shadow of the past. Where we are now is cultural revolution. We are in the midst of it. Those who have moved on from what we were are now trying to establish the foothold for climbing to a place of cultural security. Meanwhile those who hold onto what we were are grabbing at the last places we have moved beyond. At the same time, they are pulling at the shoelaces of those who have moved upward, trying to dislodge our forward and upward advance.  I am still very much a renaissance person - but not for the sake of others. I still like having a connection to as many subjects as possible. A little bi...

Frequently Asked (and Unasked) Questions of Your New Pastor

A week ago, I got the call that informed me that I will be appointed to a new church. My family will be moving to the Panhandle of Oklahoma. I will be serving the Turpin and Baker UMChurches. Lisa and I are excited about the possibilities. But moving into a new setting always brings questions. So, for anyone from the new churches who may end up reading this, here are some of the answers you will be wanting to know. What do we call you? Pastor, preacher, brother, Hey You? What you call a pastor depends on your background and tradition. I don’t expect anyone to call me anything specific. But here are some helpful guidelines: • Reverend is a formal title best used for official address and invitations or business letters • Pastor is what I do and my relationship to the church. It is fine for people to call me Pastor Todd. Or even just Pastor. • Preacher is also what I do. I don’t mind people calling me Preacher. • “Hey, you” is perfectly fine until you get to know me. • Above all...

Displaced

We have moved into our new appointment. Thus the delay in posting. Plus a week at camp. But mostly an overwhelming sense of being displaced. I'm not sure where it is coming from. It's really a feeling of disassociation with what is going on around me. I normally feel fairly secure in any environment or setting. But I have really been struggling with a mental "wall" around me. It's not really anything to do with the new churches. We have been warmly welcomed and received by everyone that we have met. The men of the church were there to help us move in. The new house is having the finishing touches put on. The worship services are not too stressful. This is really a sense of feeling like, "I'm not really here." It could be a very mild form of depression or grieving our last appointment. But I am very excited about what can happen in this appointment. So I have been pushing myself out of my routine and beyond my personality limits to meet and connect wi...