Christmas

Well... another Christmas has arrived. We had our typical family traditions and of course everyone probably ate way too much. I received lots of cool new triathlon stuff from my parents, including some stuff from one of our sponsors, Zensah. I got to give their running tights, compression shorts, and skull cap a test run this afternoon in some harsh cold. I was amazed by their comfort and breathability on the 15-miler that I did this afternoon. These are definitely the best cold gear stuff that I've tried.

Another cool thing that my parents got me was a poster made on snapfish.com. They took several pictures from the trip to Kona for the IM and made a collage out of them. That was really cool and I could tell that they put a lot of thought into it. It brought back a lot of cool memories and emotions about the whole experience.

Of course, we all need to remember that the real meaning of Christmas is all about God sending his son to the world. We give gifts to each other out of tradition probably because people thought we should be like God and give something out of love to those close to us that requires some sort of sacrifice. Nowadays, the only winners in this tradition seem to be the retailers (well... maybe not this year!). Many Americans, and people around the world, seem to have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas. I think the epitome of this was displayed on Black Friday when a Wal-Mart employee was killed by shoppers fighting over trying to get some great deals. We need to get back to the true meaning of Christmas... because that is the only thing that will satisfy us for eternity. People spend so much money on Christmas hoping to make their loved ones happy, and it may work... but by next Christmas I bet that most gifts are hardly used anymore or are outdated... leaving the people unsatisfied.

Another thing I wonder about the Christmas season deals with the radio. Today people are so uptight about not offending people. Anything Christian is taboo, or at least it seems that way. I remember working at a restaurant a couple years ago and Christmas music was playing. I think at the time the song was Silent Night, or Away in a Manger. One of the employees there said something like, "What is this? I didn't think we were in a church!" That really bugged me. That person totally had no clue about the true meaning of Christmas. It also got me thinking/wondering how much longer it will be until explicitly Christian Christmas music will not be allowed to be played on the radio anymore because it may "offend people." I pray that American society never reaches that level... however I have a feeling that the time is not too far away.

Sorry about the depressing posting on Christmas... but I really felt like I needed to get that out there. I hope that you all enjoyed your family today (or will in the future when you do celebrate Christmas when you all can get together).