The 'C' Word I'll put this out there, don't know if you've heard, About the first mutterings of that hushed 'C' word Those distant weeks will soon fly by Like antlered reindeer against night skies So ho ho ho, here we go Christmas comes early, enjoy the show. Halloween has just been and gone And Bonfire Night has not yet begun. But it's carte blanche for festive times, Let adverts ring and sleigh bells chime. As Aldi and Asda and Argos compete For pounds and pennies on desolate high streets Don Santa hat and ready your cards, Plastic's fantastic the telly bombards You with stuff you never knew existed, Companies only caring to get it shifted. And family debts spiral like a Catherine Wheel, Buy now pay next year, what a deal. As Black Friday eagerly awaits, Spend, go on, spend for that's your fate. Amazon and Ebay ready to pounce, Let the greed begin pre pre pre XMAS sales announce. November 3rd and Christmas has begun I'm off to hibernate. Good luck, it's open season, everyone.
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Christmas comes earlier every year. Mid October and the decorations and Christmas gifts are up in the shops. First few days of November and the TV adverts begin.
It was never like this when I was a young boy 40 years ago. Now there is a free for all desperation to grab your attention, and your money at the earliest opportunity. And damn the consequences.
Escalating debt, use of food banks, family poverty, the pressure to keep up with the Joneses, to buy that toy your children's friends are getting, but will only be played with a few weeks. To gorge and binge and eat and drink to excess, because everyone else does.
But forgetting the essence of spirituality, kindness, togetherness, love for your fellow man, woman and child, helping others, charity, friendship.
The Christian message is lost under a pile of gift receipts and Quality Street chocolate wrappers. In Islam, Ramadan is a month of fasting, abstinence, piety, prayer, devotion, intropsection, kindness and charity. It culminates in the festival of Eid ul Fitr. A celebration yes. A joyous time of gifts (usually new clothes or small amounts of money for children), eating (after a month of fasting, the food is plentiful and you are grateful for what you have that others don't), but most of all it is a time of thankfulness. To God, Allah. To family and friends. For life and your place in it. And for your good fortune.
