Christmas Gifts

Christmas time is upon us, and we are diving, head first, into the Advent season at break neck speed.  Black Friday is looming over the horizon, hidden by the turkey and cranberry sauce, but we begin our shopping sprees and materialistic adventures.

Let me be the first to say, I am not above materialism.  I like stuff, mainly tech stuff, but I do have my limits.  I'm starting to tinker, in my mind, about things.  I'm plotting to make a guitar pedal switch out of cheap and/or spare parts for an effects switch I won, for some on the fly podcasting stuff.  At the same time I'm not above asking for new stuff that I don't have, or newer stuff that I need to replace stuff that is beginning to wear out (ie: wallet).

Growing up, Christmas meant new stuff: G.I. Joes (the 3½" ones that were held together by rubber washers, not the doll sized ones - I'm not that old), Legos, Nintendo games, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys, and the dreaded clothes.  Seriously though, clothes aren't for Christmas, they're for birthdays and Easter!

The new stuff would either replace the old stuff or become intro-grated with the other toys.  Personally speaking, my new GI Joes would go through a hazing period.  I'm not proud of those periods, but it had to be done to prove their worth, to seperate the men from the boys.  However, come February, those gifts no longer had the same importance they did on December 26th, their giftiness (I'm ™ing that word, yo!) had lost its luster and they became apart of my everyday life.  Especially the GI Joes who wrestled twice a week, against one another.

This week began with a real deep moment, for me.  I was drawn to the gifts God has presented with me.  I've noticed that they've lost their giftiness™ in my eyes and I'm starting to feel that I'm misusing, or even underusing, those gifts.


The first thing that came to me was my artistic gift, and how I've been ignoring it a lot lately.  I keep this blog, which looks pretty, but that only took a little bit of that talent.  On top of that, it was used for my own self.  As is everything else I've done.  Even at work, I use my talent for a paycheck.  I don't freely share it with others.

I don't want to keep my gift to myself, though.  There's no use for it if I'm the only one who can play with it.  And no matter how weird that last sentence reads, it's the truth: I want to share my gifts with everyone.

As a trial run, I'm offering my talents to whoever needs it.  I will take on all new projects, until the end of the year, and will work to the best of my ability (and sanity) to get them all done in a timely manner.  I will take on multiple projects at once, and even pick up other ones I have forgotten about (sorry Missy).  I will give my gift to all who would like to use it because a gift isn't worth keeping to yourself, especially a gift from God, Himself!

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Charity vs Spending

For those of you not in the know, I work for a small print shop and in the new ten years I've worked here I've seen a lot of stuff flow through my desk, but more recently (mainly because of the mid-term elections) I've noticed a huge mistake during such a bad economic time: over spending.

Like I said, I noticed it mostly because of the over abundance every particular candidate had when it came to promoting themselves. They wasted money for no reason other than use the money their "Friends of . . ." campaign group raised.  Instead of investing the money back into the communities by turning over the money back to those who supplied them.  I refused to vote for half the people I did work for, on biased personal feelings toward them and their 'stand' but I had a hard time hearing one say they spent an extra $700 to do it online only to have it messed up, meaning they had to spend another $700 to get it redone.  $1400 spent just because they thought they could get it done better, elsewhere.

I'm not sure, personally, what year these people live in, but here I stand, writing on a blog, myself, and use this thing called Twitter and Facebook.  One out of a dozen local politicians used both of these things and two even told me that they don't use either.

I won't get into the ignorance of politicians ignoring technology.  The last thing I want to do is turn this into a political soapbox post.

What I'm trying to get at is wasteful spending and masking your wasteful spending as charity.

There is a local "charity" who will go nameless for this post but they're spending more than $200 on 50 program.  50.  That's $4 per program.  $4.  For a charity dinner program.  $4.  That doesn't include anything other than the program.  The invitations where only $20.  I should know: I designed and printed the things.

I was talking with a co-worker about it and she said that when someone donates $1,000 they want to see their name on something.

This is where I am going.

If you pay $1,000 and expect to see your name on something, you are no longer giving money to charity.  You are now paying to have your name on something.

Being charitable means giving without expecting to receive.

If you are a christian business owner, or christian person in general, and you give to a charity or anyone and then get bent out of shape because your name isn't in lights, then you have missed the point of charity and should be ashamed.

Now, if you buy a brick for a charitable cause then you're buying a brick for yourself, not for the charity.  If you buy a brick and put a bible verse on it then you've now stepped into the whole "Lord's name in vain" category and you know where that leads, right, so I won't go there.

Read that last part in sarcasm, if you haven't already.  I can't judge you as much as you can judge yourself but really think about how your charitable causes are charity and how many of them are self promotion.  I agree, that every once in a while a "Thank You" is appreciated but don't get bent out of shape if you don't get a shiny plaque or your name omitted in a program.

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The Fall is Upon Us

Daylight has faded earlier
than the weeks before
only leading into the
cold wasteland to come.

There must be some bit
of solace left out
there for us to hold
onto; We can't all be doomed.

Those in power say we
must stay in line, stay
in wait, stay nose cleaned,
stay a part of tthe agenda.

It is their red and blue
speaches that keep us warm
and it is their lies
that burn our slumber.

Hang their promises from
a noose in a tree of
red and yellow leaves for
the fall is upon us.

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