I was shopping in mid-October in a local nursery and admiring all of the new Christmas decorations! Forget the fun and frivolity of a Harvest Festival; there they were in the corner of the store on sale for 70% off! And Thanksgiving? Well, the retailers were giving thanks and feeling blessed that we, the consumers, were gearing up for the spending frenzy of November 25.

Just around the corner something caught my eye: a fully decorated Christmas tree with indigo blue and gold ornaments, and richly decorated scarves. To give it that "real religious" feeling there were quite a few nativity sets placed strategically around it. More than the beauty of the ornaments, what really captured my attention was the placement of the tree. The tree was hung upside-down, suspended from the ceiling with about ten to fifteen gold stars around it! You may have seen one or heard about it on the news. One online retailer has already sold out. The biggest selling point? You can put more presents under the tree!

That may seem outrageous, but how is it different than any other time of the year? Was I merely offended because this is, after all, a Christian holiday? The thought left me questioning my own commercialism. (Register below to read more)

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