Faithful shopping tips
Twas the night before Black Friday
and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring,
Not even a mouse
The cross hung on the wall
as a faithful reminder
to keep Mom and Dad
from a spending sidewinder.
The cash had been counted,
The credit cards stood ready
For all the super sales
that make the cash registers steady
But just as they crept out the door in a rush
The family linked hands and Dad said “Hush!”
He chunked the credit cards and the children wept:
“We can’t buy happiness, so let’s not go into debt!”
Tis the season that too often turns the most frugal and practical people into overspenders.
Local ministers said the faithful are not immune to the lure of new techno gadgets, the latest toy or the trendy fashions as the holiday shopping season begins in earnest.
Gifts are a part of the season, but they warn their congregations not to go into debt to put presents under the Christmas tree.
Many people, they said, mistake the accumulation of material possessions for happiness. At no time is this myth more prevalent than at the holidays, they said.
“Don’t think you can buy happiness at the holidays because you can’t,” said Alan Day, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Edmond.
Day is in the midst of a Sunday sermon series on money, “What’s in Your Wallet?”
He said it’s important for their health and happiness that people resist the urge to spend more than they can afford.
“Suicide and depression go up during the holidays and part of it is misplaced values,” said Day.
“We load ourselves with activities. We overspend. We try to experience joy from purchases and experiences and that’s not where it comes from. It comes from God.
Day and other religious leaders said focusing on the real meaning of Christmas will keep people from buying in (no pun intended) to the materialism message of the holidays.
“If people can focus on their significant relationships and God’s love, they’ll not experience emotional overload and become a casuality to the holiday season.”
Robin Meyer, pastor of Mayflower Congregational Church, agreed.
“I hope people will go into the holidays thinking about something more than how much they can spend,” said Meyer.
Day, Meyer and others offer the following tips for the faithful as they prepare for the holiday shopping season:
1. Get a plan.
“Create a budget and stick to it,” said Day.
2. If you haven’t planned for this Christmas, don’t go out and buy a bunch of things you can’t afford. Begin planning now for 2008.
3. Focus on your significant relationships and God’s love this season, instead of the need to make purchases.
4. Buy fewer things and make sure they are higher quality like heirloom items that can be passed down to your children.
5. Ask yourself: “Does this purchase make the quality of my life better?”
“A lot of technology seperates people,” said Meyer. “Ask yourself, ‘Do I need another TV? or maybe what I need is one less TV, one less Blackberry and one more conversations with a real person.’ People are starved for that.”
6. Make ethical decisions about what you buy. Don’t invest in a company that is doing things or supports things that you don’t believe in.
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Go online to the Religion and Values blog on NEWSOK.com Saturday to read all about ”Greed,” the second part of the Seven Deadly Sin series.
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