Posted by ( StarDodger ) on January 04, 2008 at 8:08 am

I hear a lot associating the prettiness of the lights with the “spirit of the season”.  How so untrue.  The Spirit of the Season is giving.  It’s about thinking about others.  Now don’t get me wrong, I love the Christmas lights, and I’m not a party pooper, but every time I see another $100 inflatable, and another house that’s going to have a $500 electric bill, I have to stop and think, “How does that better my fellow man?” That $100 instead sent to the food bank would have been greatly appreciated, especially considering they were short turkeys at Thanksgiving.  That $500 would’ve helped pay a neighbor’s heating bill or food bill, or bought the homeless shelter some necessary items.  Maybe even a few blankets.  Charities are in desperate need of donations, yet we blithely tack on more lights, more decorations, more everything, in hopes it adds more “spirit”.  I think someone’s looking in the wrong place.

We have so insulated ourselves from the “REAL” meaning of Christmas that we don’t even think twice about the “Extravaganza”.  The waste.  The upside down priorities of “over the top” celebrating vs feeding a fellow soul. 

On a completely different note, the fact that there are enough “sheeple” in the US to even HAVE Homeowner Associations scares me to death.  I thought this was America, Land of the Free?  I guess only as Free as the HOA lets you be.  How could any American knowingly sign a piece of paper reducing their rights in any way?  Especially for the sake of keeping the neighborhood “looking nice”?  Has freedom become that meaningless to us?