Have a good ride!
In line with my Christmas post, putting out Christmas displays at work, what is it? Why does retail do that? What is retail there for? Is it to supply a product? Is it to stimulate your senses to sell you something you didn’t intend to buy and don’t need? I don’t have an answer, it just got me thinking…
::SAdamson
27 days until we celebrate the birth of Christ!
What does Christmas mean to you?
I was hanging up Christmas lights this morning at work and I was a little grumpy and there were lots of decorations that had been put out through the last week. Then Don said he hates it. To him, Christmas is spending time with your family. Christmas to a lot of people is presents. Christmas to retail is the season to make money.
Christmas to me is obvious. Christ. Mas. We celebrate the birth of Jesus. Without Him, no Christmas! Then it’s hanging out with family, but I think that is just winter for me. I like the idea of skating, lights, hot chocolate, sitting by the fire, cozy sweaters, snow… Or cyclocross in Belgium…
What is Christmas to you?
::SAdamson
Man, do I have a wicked brother in law or what??
Mike played an awesome show at Hulbert’s tonight. Oh man, he’s unbelievable!
It made me think about talents and gifts and purpose. We all have different abilities and use them for different purposes. We can’t all be good musicians, or cyclists, or doctors, or truck drivers. It’s all about using your abilities, gifts, talents, and who you are to do good, to serve, and to better society! Don’t worry about the reward, don’t worry about a paycheque, and don’t even worry about having the things you want.
Go out and be good people!
::SAdamson
She’s got, imagination running free
Colours as far as she can see
She knows, it’s so
Inspiration on a sunny day
Friends and family will play
::SAdamson
So I’ve been thinking a lot lately. What else is new???
But it was a conversation I had with Josh yesterday while working on bikes that is sparking this post. It also follows my posts last week and The Corporation documentary.
I’ve always been a very spoiled kid. I never really had chores, I never was grounded, always had spending money. I never really played any aggressive contact sports. I played volleyball. I started cycling.
I always really liked camping, hiking, mountain biking. I liked woodworking. I wanted to use my hands and be outside.
I started road racing, wearing spandex, shaving my legs. I started liking girls. I started liking nice clothes. I fell in love with good coffee and good food. I liked cooking. I started liking good wine. I graduated to nice, more fitted clothing.
The idea of manual labour doesn’t appeal to me. The idea of wearing nice clothes to work every day appeals to me. I don’t really like being dirty. If I had to leave everything and move to a third-world country, I would be really uncomfortable.
So I guess I don’t really know what my priorities are or what they’re supposed to be.
But who am I?
First and foremost, I am God’s child, a follower of Jesus. I try my best to be a good person. I am a cyclist; I love racing, I like nice bikes, I love the cycling community. I like to sit around and do nothing. I like shopping, nice clothes, wearing nice clothes. I like cooking, I like good food, good coffee, good wine.
But I do still like camping and being outdoors. I like physical activity. I like sweating and making my muscles burn. I like pushing the limits.
Hmm…
Who is Shaun Adamson?
::SAdamson
Ok, so let’s say that the guy who just handed you the cash then asked you to hang out with him. And he also wanted you to do something–write a book, ride your bike, count the number of people crossing the street, something not too difficult but that does require some effort. Then what do you think?
We finished watching The Corporation today in accounting. It was good. I went from being depressed after class on Tuesday, to scared, to ready to tackle the world!
I got scared because it discussed the attempts to privatize things like water and bacteria, and the ability to patent human genes. What the heck??? Are there any human rights left?
Then I got ready to tackle the world as I began to figure out exactly what I think is wrong with it. Rich people keep getting richer and poor people keep getting poorer. Pfizer donated a bunch of money to help clean up a community and noticably reduce crime. That’s great. Nothing wrong there. But how much money is the management of Pfizer pocketing?
It’s like the parable of the widow’s offering in Luke. She might not give as much as the rich people, but she gave everything she had.
And then I’m also reminded of You’ve Got Mail, where Tom Hanks plays an owner of Fox Books-the big corporation-whose owners have tons of money, lack family life, and many unnecessary material possessions. The small, nice family bookstore, Around the Corner, is owned by Meg Ryan. Her business has to shut down because Fox Books took all her business with their discounts and cappucinos. But the scene I’m really reminded of now is where they run into each other at the grocery store and Tom Hanks is uber friendly to the cashier who Meg Ryan is having trouble with. It is just the facade that good, rich businessmen put on to make people happy to make more money.
I think it’s a problem when:
Edmonton has also made this Shop Local First Month. What solid timing…
So go and shop local, eat local, support your small business and the people who treat other people and the world right!
::SA
What would you do if you walked up to somebody, said hello, and they just handed you bunch of money and gave you a hug?
Whoa! All kinds of stuffed happened today that I want to post about. I don’t know if I can remember all of it even.
But the one that stands out is the fact that we watched a super depressing documentary in accouting. It was about corporations and how horrible they can be. I know most documentaries are biased, but it talks about how little Nike employees get paid to make a t-shirt–something like 17 cents! Corporations are polluting our world. Stock traders are excited about oil being burned and the price per barrel going up. When somebody is more worried about money and the bottom line than supplying the demand, then something is really wrong. What is wrong with our world?!?!?
But how can we function without corporations? Even if I want to grow my own food and make my own clothes, I wouldn’t have any of the stuff that I like.
Yup, hopefully more tomorrow. Good night.
::SA
