Business, Birthday and Benevolence

Happy Birthday

The order of things in life are not always selected with care.  I am a person.  I do what I want to do bad enough more often than I do what I need to do.  That is what ensures that I remain a person.  I know I must be reminded to place first things first, but I backslide more often than I care to admit.  I have no excuse.  It is sloppy 'mental' business.

I am certain, however, as to why today is where it is.  I am certain, without a doubt, who's birthday falls on this day.  When I opened my eyes this morning I saw the world as it was yesterday.  Today will bring more experiences that are somewhat similar to yesterday.  New things will certainly happen today but most of the world will bring loads of things that are typically similar to what the day before produced.  A lot of each day brings about a lot of the same things we saw yesterday.  My house does not show up today with painted stripes and yesterday it hosted polka dots in blue.  Much of today is very similar to what we experienced yesterday.  We wake up each morning with a lot of yesterday in mind.

However, there is one very different thing the world will bring today.  Once a year a special birthday does come with this day.  The world finds this day to be very important.  Nobody needs to travel very far when they wake up this morning to find out about what changes this day will bring.  A lot of what will happen on this day is very different than what will happen in the coming few months.  This day is very different than yesterday.  It is one day in a year that we can be certain to find a lot of the things we do after we wake to be hugely different than the day before.

Business behaves differently on this birthday.  Everywhere.  It always has.

I was raised by an entrepreneur family.  I am a short distance away from reaching 60 and have been an active part of the business world for 38 years.  Business ownership runs pretty deep in my blood.  I have spent hours upon hours thinking about, moving about and sleeping about the menagerie of thoughts and ideas flowing continuously in this business motivated mind.  The dust of business thoughts clings to almost every thought my mind generates.  Yet today there is a very special birthday.  Even though the dust finds its way to the birthday celebration the birthday dominates the flow.

In fact, this special birthday runs early in attention to the retail world.  In some retail worlds this day gets early attention more than many other seasonal points of purchase features.  Sometimes we see recognition of this birthday as early as Halloween in some American retail stores.  In fact, some retail stores do this birthday all year long.  I have made purchases in those types of stores.  I know they exist.  This birthday is for real.

My social heredity has not always honored this birthday for its original honor and respect.  It is no shame to admit that.  I come from a background that was driven more for the "holiday" of matters attached to the business portion of this birthday.  "Happy Holidays" was not a driving force and a personal issue with my heritage, but neither was a deep respect for "This Born Child."  I guess that makes me not so bad.  As if measuring the difference is important?  It matters not.

We see what this birthday brings.  We see what this birthday means.  We know when this birthday comes.  We know why this birthday is here.  We move each day with the traditions we allow as we flow in line with how we dovetail our lives into the path of the celebration we give to this birthday event.  It is all around us.  It is in the music, the decorations, the food, the services, the sales, the government days off, the school programs, the gift giving, the shopping motives, the constant media attention, the churches, the bell ringers, the language, the television specials, the clothing, the energy bills, the benevolence we promote and the billions of lives that mention this special time with a part of His name...Christmas.

Step away for just one moment in this crazy world we have learned to manufacture and quietly give some time to the special birth that started it all.  Quietly give thanks, benevolence, to this truth and for just one moment, honor the truth and celebrate how it all became.  I no longer pretend His birthday is not the reason.  I do not believe that Jesus wanted to become someones excuse to have a good time, to produce parades and bowl games, to increase "Holiday" sales and to get another special day off.  How silly can we really be?

Business, birthday and benevolence.  You select the order you perform today.  It is a different day.

Happy Birthday Jesus.

Until next time....