License to Over Indulge

On Thanksgiving Day my wife and I ate at a Golden Corral restaurant in Orlando. I love people watching, and this was a great place to do it. First, I was amazed at how many people were dining out on Thanksgiving. Next, I observed people making absolute gluttons of themselves. I observed one fellow make at least three trips to the dessert bar, after cleaning several plates of entrees. It occurred to me that we have turned holidays into excuses for overindulgence. The day after Thanksgiving is Black Friday, arguably the biggest retail day of the year. On this day people will eschew sleep to get a "bargain". I saw in the paper where one store employee was trampled to death as the doors were opened and the crowds surged forward. This will be followed by Christmas, once the celebration of the birth of our Savior, but now an excuse to give and receive gifts personally. How would you like it if on your birthday everyone else got gifts except you? I've observed my own grandkids get so many gifts that they hardly open one before asking for another. It seems as if the goal is to get the most gifts.
The holidays, once established to help us remember and celebrate either thanksgiving for God's bountiful blessings, or the coming of our Savior, are now relegated to celebrations of gluttony, greed, selfishness, and commercialism. Kind of makes me wonder the message we're sending to our children and to the world.