Tuesday, November 14, 2006

WalMart Puts Christmas Back In Holiday Shopping

http://www.wben.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=06225


This is the first post for this holiday, oops Christmas season. I got so used to hearing the term Holiday Season in place of Christmas the past few years, I almost forgot. But it seems Wal-Mart has not forgotten what the consumers want. The name Christmas will be, and admittedly can be found throughout the entire store. It seems that the retail giant has given in to public opinion and pressure.

One small step for Christmas… One giant leap for Jesus…

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Happy Birthday!

My Birthday
As you well know, we are getting closer to my birthday. Every year there is a celebration in my honor and I think that this year the celebration will be repeated. During this time there are many people shopping for gifts, there are many radio announcements, TV commercials, and in every part of the world everyone is talking that my birthday is getting closer and closer.

It is really very nice to know, that at least once a year, some people think of me. As you know, the celebration of my birthday began many years ago. At first people seemed to understand and be thankful of all that I did for them, but in these times, no one seems to know the reason for the celebration. Family and friends get together and have a lot of fun, but they don't know the meaning of the celebration.

I remember that last year there was a great feast in my honor. The dinner table was full of delicious foods, pastries, fruits, assorted nuts and chocolates. The decorations were exquisite and there were many, many beautifully wrapped gifts. But, do you want to know something? I wasn't invited. I was the guest of honor and they didn't remember to send me an invitation.

The party was for me, but when that great day came, I was left outside, they closed the door in my face......... and I wanted to be with them and share their table. In truth, that didn't surprise me because in the last few years all close their doors to me. Since I was not invited, I decided to enter the party without making any noise. I went in and stood in a corner. They were all drinking; there were some who were drunk and telling jokes and laughing at everything.
They were having a great time. To top it all, this big fat man all dressed in red wearing a long white beard entered the room yelling Ho-Ho-Ho! He seemed drunk. He sat on the sofa and all the children ran to him, saying: "Santa Claus, Santa Claus"... as if the party were in his honor!

At 12 midnight all the people began to hug each other; I extended my arms waiting for someone to hug me and.. do you know .... no one hugged me.

Suddenly they all began to share gifts. They opened them one by one with great expectation. When all had been opened, I looked to see if, maybe, there was one for me. What would you feel if on your birthday everybody shared gifts and you did not get one? I then understood that I was unwanted at that party and quietly left.

Every year it gets worse. People only remember to eat and drink, the gifts, the parties and nobody remembers me. I would like this Christmas that you allow me to enter into your life. I would like that you recognize the fact that almost two thousand years ago I came to this world to give my life for you, on the cross, to save you. Today, I only want that you believe this with all you heart.
I want to share something with you. As many didn't invite me to their party, I will have my own celebration, a grandiose party that no one has ever imagined, a spectacular party.

I'm still making the final arrangements. Today I am sending out many invitations and there is an invitation for you. I want to know if you wish to attend and I will make a reservation for you and write your name with golden letters in my great guest book. Only those on the guest list will be invited to the party. Those who don't answer the invitation will be left outside.

Do you know how you can answer this invitation? It is by extending it to others whom you care for...

I'll be waiting for all of you to attend my party this year...

See you soon ... I love you !

-Jesus

Monday, December 12, 2005

A question

The Rev. has asked what Christmas means to us all. Let’s take a look. But first, we have to set the stage, if you will. Let’s remove all religion, just for a moment. While were at it, let’s take away race as well. (if you have to have a color, make it orange) Oh wait, lets get rid of your nationality too. Ok, just one more, lets zap out creed. Now that all the striping is done, what do we have left? Just you and who you are.

Ok, that’s better. Now that we are all on the same level field, let’s examine the question again. What does Christmas mean to you, or to us? I could tell you what it means to me, but this is not about me. What do YOU believe?

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Snow


I know that a heavy snow fall can be a pain. If you own a business, that snow plow guy wants big bucks for his magic on your parking lot. shoveling is hard on the back. It slows traffic down to a crawl. I know it's cold outside. I understand all of this.

So instead of sitting inside complaining about it, go have some fun! Your kids will like you for it!!!

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Just another year...

Oh, I have so much to do. Billy wants his game boy for Christmas, Sally wants that new doll she seen on TV. I have to wrap all these gifts. Oh, that's right, I have to call my brother back and let him know I'll be there for his Christmas Party. Oh, then there's the tree and all of the decorations. Why does it have to snow, it makes these things so much harder. Oh, I forgot about the cookies. I have to make the cookies! When will I ever sleep?


Um, lady!!! Christmas is about Christ.

Today's meaning of Christmas (Final page)

After walking a few steps, Lisa finally snaps out of her madness. As she becomes lucid once again, she stops and turns around. There, on the floor, she sees a group of people kneeling around the body of a pretty young girl. “Oh, I wonder what happened to her”, she thinks to herself. In the very next moment, Lisa realizes what happened. During her fit of rage, she was so deranged and insane that she had no idea what she was doing. The scuffle was only two minutes ago, yet she recalls it like a story she read in a book weeks ago. She recalls the deed as if it was someone else’s atrocious story. Once she comes to the realization of what she has done, she once again loses her mind. She sits down on the floor, in a childlike position, crossing her legs.

Moments later, the police take her away.

Years later, Lisa is found in a mental institution. After claiming insanity for her crime, she was placed here for the next ten years. Her family has moved away, to another state, and has broken off all contact. It has now been three years since she has seen her children and almost two since she has spoken to them.

I go in to interview her, to find out how she is and what she is planning with her life. Within a few minutes, I realize that she has changed. She is no longer the same person who was in that store. She explains to me that she has found God, and he has forgiven her for her deed. I then tell her this….




So glad to see you have overcome them.
Completely silent now
With heaven's help
You cast your demons out
And not to pull your halo down
Around your neck and tug you off your cloud
But I'm more than just a little curious
How you're planning to go about
Making your amends to the dead
To the dead

Recall the deeds as if
They're all someone else's
Atrocious stories
Now you stand reborn before us all
So glad to see you well

And not to pull your halo down
Around your neck and tug you to the ground
But I'm more than just a little curious
How you're planning to go about
Making your amends to the dead
To the dead

With your halo slipping down
Your halo slipping
Your halo slipping down
Your halo slipping down
Your halo slipping down [repeated]

Your halo slipping down to choke you now *****

The End.....

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Today's meaning of Christmas (Part 3)

As Lisa walks down the Power Isle in the front of store, she thinks about her kids and wonder if her husband is having any trouble with the start of their day. She calls home from her cell phone to check in. After a comforting conversation with her husband, she hangs up her phone. Knowing everything is fine at home; she turns her attention to the sale racks. ‘My son would love this for his stocking’, she thinks to herself. The little $5.00 toy makes its way into her cart. The store is now full to capacity with shoppers, all hungry for the great sales and the thrill of the day.

Moving down the aisle is a painstakingly slow process. Like animals being led to the feeding trough, masses of people slowly work their way through the store. “This is ridiculous ”, she thinks to herself. Lisa is known for her calm attitude. Under normal circumstances, she lets little get to her. But, this morning is not a normal day for Lisa. This is getting to her, very quickly. She feels almost claustaphobic as all the people surround her in the aisle. She feels like her head is in a vice! Like a pressure cooker, she can feel her emotions boiling inside her. Finally, in one brief moment, she screams at the top of her lungs, “come on people! Have your family reunions outside and move on down the line!” Everyone within 30 feet stops and turns to look at her. Everyone is silent, just staring at her in disbelief. “I can’t believe I just did that”, she says to herself. In less than three seconds, like a switch on a wall, her emotions change from anger to embarrassment. She wants nothing more than to crawl into a hole in the wall and disappear.

In a few minutes, people go back to their business. No one will look her in the eye. Everyone around her just looks to the ground as they try to move forward. Finally she sees a break in the crowd. Just to her left, a hole opens in the masses of people, leading straight into a branching aisle. She seizes the opportunity. Like a heat-seeking missile on its way to a target, she heads straight into the hole and ducks into the next aisle.

The aisle is almost empty. She tries to regain her composure, standing there holding onto her cart and crying a little. After a few moments, she looks up to find where she is in the store. She came into the aisle so fast that she didn’t even notice where she was going. She looks around to see what is on the shelves. “Yes!” She says to herself. Unknown to her, she just made her way into the home decor area. “I need some things here anyway.”

After finding her items, she makes her way through the store. Once weaving in and out of aisles, she finally makes her way to the toy section. There she finds more people than toys. Hoping she has fully gotten over her little moment of failure, she presses on into the isles. She’s on a mission. She needs to find those precious Moon Shoes for her son. Every year there seems to be one toy, one request for Christmas that stands out well beyond all others. This year, it’s her son’s need for Moon Shoes.

Slowly she scans the shelves for her item. The toy section is a wreck. It looks like someone came through the aisles with a wrecking ball and smashed everything. Slowly she walks through the isle full of people, scanning the shelves like radar. Finally she spots something about 10 feet ahead. “Could it be them”, she asks herself. She makes her way to the spot on the shelf. There, right in front of her, is one last box of Moon Shoes. One very lonely box in what was once a fully packed shelf of the shoes. She reaches out for the box, when suddenly, to here amazement, another pair of hands quickly snatches up the box. She looks up to whom it was. Standing within inches of her is the one of the girls she was behind outside. One of the very same group of girls that started her day on the wrong foot. She stands there in amazement, just staring at the girl with her mouth wide open. She can feel that overwhelming feeling in her head again, as her heart starts to beat nearly out of her chest. She silently calms herself down and one again looks at the girl. “Um, excuse me, but that was mine”, she says to the little snotty bitch that she now can’t the stand the sight of. “You obviously seen me reaching for it and you took it right under my nose. My son will be very disappointed if he doesn’t get this for Christmas and there’s no more on the shelf.” The girl, with all the attitude in the world, looks at Lisa and says “This is mine, not yours, and don’t think for a minute otherwise”. In one swift movement, the girl then spins around, flinging her hair into Lisa’s face.


This makes Lisa boil inside. Watching this girl go through her motions, and every word that she spoke, has Lisa virtually bleeding from her ears. Her heart races, her eyes are the size of silver dollars, her hands are shaking and her head feels worse than the last blow-up. Suddenly, she snaps. She runs towards the girl. With all the power she has, she hits the girl on the side of the head with her head with her open hand. The girl screams and spins around towards her. Lisa then grabs the girl by her hair and pulls her to the floor. The two are pulling and grabbing at each other, with everything they have. In typical female style, they pull and hank on each others clothing, hair, face and whatever else lends itself at hand. Then, Lisa finds herself on top of the girl. Without thinking a thought, with her open hand, she smashes the girl in her nose as hard as she possibly can.

The girl starts shaking and twitching. Like she’s having a seizure, the girl shakes violently. Then, within seconds, the shaking stops and the girl’s body lies still on the floor. Lisa gets off of the girl and walks over to what was once the girl’s cart. Without showing even a sign of emotion, Lisa takes the box and puts it into her cart. She then starts to walk away from the scene, almost in a trance. The aisle is filled with people who witnessed the crime, but no one will stop her as she walks away. By now several people are on the floor with the snotty girl, tending to her aid. This will prove futile, as she is dead.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Today's meaning of Christmas (Part 2)

It is a cold morning. The kind of morning when you want to sleep in, stay in your nice warm bed. But there was no bed for Lisa. She was standing in a long line, outside her local Wal-Mart, waiting for the doors to open. She was with 2 friends. Jenny, who was a few years younger and full of energy, and Joann, who was older and quite calm, even old fashion. There they stood together in line with people they did not know. Many people. The group in front of them, 3 or 4 at least, were getting on Lisa’s nerves. A group of girls that reminds her of the stuck up type she was in school with many years ago. Lisa was not the most popular is high school. She was part of a small group of average kids who really didn’t fit in all that well with the jocks and cheerleaders.

As the three stand there in line, listening to the group in front of them, Lisa looks at her friend Jenny and rolls her eyes. Without a word being spoken, she just told Jenny “oh listen to them. ‘It’s all about me, I love me!’ Those chicks are pissing me off!” Jenny replied with a soft chuckle, as she shivers in the cold. The three of them turn to each other a talk quietly to each other. Jenny said “I can’t wait to get inside, this is nuts!” “Yea, what were we thinking”, said Joann.

By now, so many people had arrived that the line went well past them. The end was nowhere in site. The three had threatened to walk back to the car to warm up, but decided that it wasn’t worth the longer wait. After all, they have made it this far. Why take the chance on loosing that great deal on the kids’ Christmas presents. Suddenly Lisa sees movement in the line ahead of them. She said to her friends, in a desperate voice “oh please let be the doors opening!” Her wish had come true. People had starting filing into the store. As the line moves closer to the doors, Lisa and her friends go over the game plan once again. “Cell phones on? Check! Now remember, if you find something on my list, call me”, said Lisa to her friends.

Finally they make it do the doors. Once they enter, they find a mass of confusion. People are running around in a craze, dashing for carts and asking for help to find items. The three go over the plan one last time, then split up in different directions to enjoy the shopping utopia.

Lisa is on her own now. In a store full of people, she feels ironically lonely. She walked over to the shopping cart area only to find it full of angry shoppers ripping and tearing at the train of carts, attempting to separate them. Lisa is not the aggressive type. She would rather back down from a situation than play a leading role. As she finds her way to a shopping cart, she is met with hundreds of militant people, all wanting to get their hands on what has now become a precious commodity. Finally she is within reach. She extends her arm to grab one, but another overtakes it. She grabs the next one in line, holding and protecting it like it’s her first-born child.

Lisa thinks to herself, as she walks away, “the hardest part is over, on with some shopping baby”! If she only knew what was to come!!!!