Dad Revisited

Advent is a temporal paradox. It is the end of the calendar year, but also the beginning of the liturgical year. It is a chance for a fresh start with your faith. It is, in fact, one of the two holiest seasons in our Christian year. It may also be the time where we are weakest in our faith.

Consider Black Friday. Were you your most faithful on that day? Were you considering what was best for all those about you, or for you alone? Were you among an angry mob of folks banging on a door, remarking that the sign says 5am and it is most certainly 5:02 already? Were you waiting patiently to be served, or did you foster anger and impatience among those about you?

Consider the holiday season in general. Are you considering your faith as you set out your menorah? Are you contemplating how oil sufficient for a single day of light should burn for eight? When I put out my creche, and I considering the miracle of a virgin birth? Or am I contemplating how another holiday is coming, and I have so much to do that I can’t see straight? Am I thinking the worst of my family because I do all the work on the holidays, and they have merely to show up with a tray of veggies as an admission ticket?

Am I yielding to the stranger in the parking lot who may have a baby, a pregnant wife, or an invalid relative in the car? Or am I stealing that spot because gracious I am in a serious hurry and you couldn’t possibly be on as tight a schedule as I am?

Am I letting the woman with three items go ahead of me in the grocery line when I have an entire cart full of provisions? Or am I justifying myself by thinking “no one ever lets me get in front so why should I do it for a stranger?”

Sure, we make our resolutions when we hang that pristine new paper calendar on the refrigerator. But do we truly make resolutions when the new year begins? The liturgical one? In this religious time of renewal (at least for Christians) perhaps we should consider making our resolutions on a schedule that makes sense in keeping our faith, and not with an artificially imposed governmental order.

If we live in a society where a man at a Walmart can be trampled to death by a group of people trying to buy discount televisions, it’s time for all of us to stop and reconsider who we are and what we do. Once we have our own houses in order, we can test the theory that I hope from the deepest reaches of my soul is true:

Good will is contagious.

So join what I hope becomes the largest scientific study ever conducted by a blogger. Come on this site and share with us all a tale of good will done unto you, and how you plan to do unto others. If you haven’t found any good will yet, tell us how you are spreading it in your life.

Tags: advent, blackfriday, Faith, Marriage and Family, walmart