Today I went into the belly the beast...the mall! The craziness started with finding a parking place. Actually, my willingness to walk made that relatively easy. Then it was off the the very definition of holiday hustle and bustle. Fortunately for me, my assignment was to watch Angel, which meant spending the afternoon at the food court with a good book (Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, I'm only a couple dozen pages in, but I can already see why it won a Pulitzer prize).
I was aware of the fact that in the midst of the excessive chaos that defines Christmas in America that I was able to find peace and calm. In fact, I almost dozed off a couple of times while reading. The constant chatter of the shoppers became a murmur that practically lulled me into a sleepy state. Still, I would occasionally look around at the shoppers and wonder what they were thinking. Most appeared to be happy, or at least content. But I couldn't help but consider how much they were aware of the reason for the festivities. I had an urge to stop one or two of them and ask them about "the true meaning of Christmas." I would have liked nothing more than to find out from a stranger what Christmas really meant to them.
My guess is that nearly every shopper would have talked about the love of family and comfort of friends, even though they were each willing to subject themselves to the stress of spending money that they may or may not be able to afford because of an expectation of giving material gifts.
I didn't have the gumption to engage anyone in that conversation, so I am left with my conjecturing. But I have a hunch that I'm right when I conclude that everyone agrees that love is the greatest gift.
I was aware of the fact that in the midst of the excessive chaos that defines Christmas in America that I was able to find peace and calm. In fact, I almost dozed off a couple of times while reading. The constant chatter of the shoppers became a murmur that practically lulled me into a sleepy state. Still, I would occasionally look around at the shoppers and wonder what they were thinking. Most appeared to be happy, or at least content. But I couldn't help but consider how much they were aware of the reason for the festivities. I had an urge to stop one or two of them and ask them about "the true meaning of Christmas." I would have liked nothing more than to find out from a stranger what Christmas really meant to them.
My guess is that nearly every shopper would have talked about the love of family and comfort of friends, even though they were each willing to subject themselves to the stress of spending money that they may or may not be able to afford because of an expectation of giving material gifts.
I didn't have the gumption to engage anyone in that conversation, so I am left with my conjecturing. But I have a hunch that I'm right when I conclude that everyone agrees that love is the greatest gift.
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