ON THE 1ST DAY OF ADVENT MY TRUE LOVE BOUGHT FOR ME. . . .

Jeff Miller of The Curt Jester has written a post that takes a look at what the world has turned Advent into instead of what it is supposed to really be, a time of preperation for celebration the Birth of Our Lord & Savior Jesus. For those of you who are unsure that there is anything out of order with what the world is doing to prepare for Christmas, here it is:

The True Meaning of Advent

Being that this is the first Sunday of Advent I thought it might be useful to give some information about this season. Advent is a shortened form of the the word Advertisement, of course you probably already knew that. This time of year we get blasted by advertisements day and night to buy gifts and to attend sales. There are some groups that contend that Advertisement actually starts on Black Friday and that this is in fact the first day of the Celebration that merchandiser consider Good Friday. During the season of Advertisement we are suppose to be of good cheer for some amorphous reason that is never quite mentioned. Rumor has it that it all leads up to the event of some child born a while ago that takes place on Christmas Day. Who this child was is not important just that we should know that the season is all about family and buying stuff. During Advertisement people say Happy Holiday's to each other. The reason for this is that during this time Malls decorate with lots of Holly so people have considered this to be Holly days. There are also other joyful greetings like Season Greetings and 40 percent off. People spend time in thanks that they have not yet exceeded their credit limit and they might forget that they have a Savior, but they will remember the savings. During the season of Advertisement the days are still 24 hours but are measured in shopping days instead. It is also a tradition for this season to be some what penitential. Penances such as having to park in overflow parking two miles away from the mall are common. After Christmas comes Advertisementide. This is the ad season of after Christmas sales and even more discounts. Later on in the shopping season comes the season of Lent. This is because you have to get money lent to you to pay off your shopping bills.

There are also some customs associated with Advertisement such as the Advertisement Wreath. Each week you take all of your junk mail and roll it up and tighten it with a rubber band and place it in your Advertisement Wreath. The third week it is traditional to use advertisements from red tag sales. You can also make or order a Advertisement Calendar, though most calendars come advertisements this is a special edition where you mark off shopping days so you know when to panic when you haven't got everything on your list. So relax and have a happy Advertisement for whatever reason we are suppose to be sellebrating.

(NOTE: I used to work in retail & I understand how important this time of year is for the bottom line. & businesses DO need to make a profit to stay open, provide jobs & give raises. The problem is that we have turned the gift giving into the end all, be all instead of it being a reminder of the gifts given to the Christ Child by the Magi.)