A Preacher (of Sorts) I Can Tolerate

It's the Reverend Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping, who spent most of the last two months trying to get people to stop consuming for the sake of consuming.

I chose not to talk of him much during Christmas because everyone has to make their own decisions. Mine, however, was NOT to shop this holiday season. We actually survived a Christmas without presents beneath the tree.

Did it feel funny? Yeah. But I'm glad I didn't engage. I got more than a few unhappy comments from people I usually grace with gifts, but I discovered I often gave because I felt I must rather than giving something people needed, wanted, etc. Nor did I need anything this holiday season that could be wrapped up in paper and put beneath a tree. Probably like most of you, I have a house full of stuff. Stuff I rarely use. Stuff I have to dust and rearrange and store.

Enough with stuff just to have stuff - at least for me.

We're consuming way too much in this country, at least in part because it helps keep us from thinking about important questions or doing something more important.