‘Tis the season…. once again….

Posted on December 24, 2007
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Jack Corzine has written 148 post in this blog.

I'm a 49 year old Union Ironworker who has numerous interests. Currently I am close to receiving my AAS in Network Administration in Security and am seeking a career change over to the IT field. I love to cook, love my wife and family, and love to live life as fully as I am able to and I try to reflect that in my writings here. Hopefully you will be able to take something from what I place here and put it to good use. Please feel free to comment on anything you wish to here, tell your friends about this website and come back for me. May the Lord God bless and keep you.

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Merry Christmas one and all. Once again it is the season of giving, the season of receiving, the season of in-laws coming over (or maybe of you going to visit in-laws), of out-laws coming home (anyone else have any of these in their families?), of charitable gifts and some not so charitable, of living life to the fullest by maxing out the credit cards because our economy is not quite what the “government” says it is, etc., etc., etc…….

Does this sound a bit down to you? Well in all honesty, these holidays which are supposed to be full of good cheer and happiness, quite often are just the opposite. Yes, it is a well-known but also well-hidden fact of life that these stressful times called the Christmas holidays are chocked full of anger, angst, frustration, animosity and just plain unhappiness. Don’t worry though, I think that this story will in fact have a happy ending. Please read on to find out for yourself…..

Just what is the common view of Christmas? Well if you were to ask a child you would most likely get an answer similar to this:
“Christmas is when baby Jesus was born and the wise men gave him gifts, so we get gifts too.” Now that is an exaggeration but it may not be too far from the truth. It has been my observation that most children (and by children I’m stating from the age of 16 and below) seem to be very materialistic in nature as opposed to being spiritual. Is there a solution to this phenomena? Probably not with the society that we live in today if you live in one of the more “civilized” countries that participates in the Christmas celebration that is centered around Santa, Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, or the Jolly Red Elf (your choice of moniker here). Commercialism has taken over the planet and unfortunately the message of Christmas has suffered.

Not only has it suffered by materialistic views but it has also suffered due to placing undue stresses on the family unit. I’m speaking of struggling families that are using resources to purchase gifts and food (not to mention GAS) in order to present themselves with what has traditionally been Christmas for them. This is not a new issue nor is it going to be remedied in any forthcoming time frame. Instead it will most likely get worse than get better. There are more people in the U.S. that are on the verge of losing their homes than ever before. The stock market has written off literally thousands of dollars of debt related to mortgages in the last year and there was a report of the same being contemplated for credit card debt (maybe you SHOULD run those cards up to limit after all, maybe yours will be written off as well). Jobs are continuing to be shipped overseas or “south of the border” by major manufacturing companies all because these companies only look at the “bottom line” (i.e. what some millionaire CEO or board member is going to clear this year). Outsourcing is still the gainsay of corporate U.S. even though you spend more time on the phone’s support line talking to Habib in Pakistan than it would take to return the merchandise to the local Walmart (didn’t they used to sell American made merchandise at one time?) and get a new one. We would rather pay some child labor over in Asia than maintain our own level of living in the U.S. by paying a decent wage and benefits. Let’s not even go into the medical care field in this post shall we?

Ok this is getting quite doom and gloomy isn’t it? Let’s try to cheer it up a bit then. Let’s see here, some items to be thankful for:

• I’m married to a wonderful woman for the last 22 years
• I have two wonderful children and one great but sometimes misguided foster son
• I have the love of my family and my parents to fall back on
• I have the love of my Lord Jesus which is above all else and is undeniable
• I have my health (although I’m currently recovering from a minor surgery)
• I have my two dogs and the cat from hades that live in our house
• I have a roof over my head, food in my freezer and the knowledge of how to use both
• I have the support of my many friends both online and offline (although they don’t seem to realize how to comment on my blog)
• I am able to go to school and further my education even though I’m getting to be a bit long in the tooth (for those of you that are too young to know that adage, it means I’m getting old)
• I am blessed to still live in the best country that I’m aware of even after visiting so many while I was younger

Yes, I am happy for all of the above, even when I argue and fight with any of my children or my wife and friends because I know that deep down they truly love me and I truly love them and somewhere we are both wrong to some extent. I am happy to be around those that I love and that they share their lives with me. I’m happy that I’m able to explore my hobbies even as eccentric as they might be (exactly what is wrong with me carrying three knives anyway?). But most of all, I’m happy that my Savior whose birth we are celebrating tomorrow, died on the cross for me, resolved my sins with His sacrifice, permitted me the Grace of God by which I am saved, and that He has risen from the clutches of death to rule His kingdom once again. I look forward to the day of His return and pray that my family will find redemption before he comes back (those that have not already done so).

Best of all, I’m glad to be able to share my thoughts, no matter how irrelevant or irreverent they may seem to you, with you. I truly hope that this holiday season finds you of good health and cheer, that all your troubles be insignificant and superficial. That problems will rectify themselves and will be shed from your lives. May you find the happiness that you deserve and may you have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS, one and all!

© 2007, Realm of the Shadow Redux. All rights reserved. reproduction of this post must include a link to the original post.

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1. A Cajun 12 Days of Christmas
2. Dr. Dobson says stop the attempt to remove Christmas….

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