Christmas

What to do?

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God Seeker Guy has been asked to attend a church carol celebration over the Christmas period. What to do?

While churches are not his favorite place in which to gather, God Seeker Guy respects the traditions of others and will not be “making a point” at the expense of family and friends who look forward to a traditional Christmas church celebration that really has little to do with religion.

“We can respect the convictions of others without embracing them. We can participate as guests …”

Relationships with real people take priority over relationships with vague , esoteric , unseen entities. We can respect the convictions of others without embracing them. We can participate as guests without signing up.

If there is a contradiction here, no apologies are offered, the inconsistency signifies the struggle in searching for faith.  Attending a church carol service will not corrupt or do serious mental damage, adamant refusal to attend would be childish and immature.

The cost to God Seeker Guy is zero, the pageantry can be fun and the religious nonsense can be dismissed. Participation in religious rights can be politely declined. While being among the congregation may at times be uncomfortable, it’s doubtful it will cause  any real or imagined harm. Any search involves  looking far and wide, not just in comfortable places.

Participating in a colorful Christmas church service will make family members  happy, God Seeker Guy will just have to put aside his issues with the Almighty for one evening.

-GSG (God Seeker Guy)

‘Tis the season to be wise!

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New! New! New! Buy! Buy! Buy! If there is such a thing as an antichrist, surely he sits on a board of directors of some consumer oriented conglomerate. God Seeker Guy has come to the conclusion that we’re lost in a wilderness of blatant consumerism and need to find our way to a more frugal lifestyle. Perhaps we simply need to learn the meaning of contentment.

The real evil of consumerism, is the manner in which it keeps us dissatisfied with what we already have. The Christmas season is particularly wrought with danger as we’re often forced into buying indiscriminately or even in panic mode, every corporations idea of heaven.

Even though we are buying for others at this time of year, and of course our hearts are in the right place, we might consider if the expenditures on items willingly provided by well-lit malls is necessary to celebrate Christmas? Far more of us attend the malls than attend church. What does that tell you?

Shopping has become a new religion, it seems to fill the needs of  shoppers that cannot be met anywhere else. Even buyer’s remorse is not a strong enough motivation to stop a process that many need to find quasi contentment.

Genuine contentment is hard to find when we’re constantly reminded that our stuff is out of date. The latest toy is a must have as is the latest gadget, our clothes are out of style and Fred next door makes more money . (There is always a Fred around, but quite often he is on the threshold of bankruptcy and his BMW is on the verge of repossession.) Be careful who you try to measure up to, you may wind up living another person’s lie, a lesson learned by many congregations after their church leaders were arrested for fraud or other nasty crimes.

A lack of contentment appears to have gripped our relationships, companions and mates are replaced with the same regularity as our latest gizmo. The quality of just about everything is determined by short time spans, new is the god of modern times.

Most of us have what we need to be content, but it’s difficult to recognize it through the fog of relentless advertising and peer pressure. What’s the point of owning a high definition TV when your life is so low definition you can’t see clearly?

-GSG (God Seeker Guy)