Unintended Messages

"Rekindle the season" the Starbucks window display urged me.  "What does that mean?" I wondered.  "Seasons aren't flammable."

The phrase struck me as being a prime example of marketing nothing-speak, that dark form of the language in which fine, intelligible words are strung together to produce vapid, meaningless slogans.  I wanted to be annoyed, put out, irked that commercialism was once again doing it's best to undermine the purpose of Advent.

But as I thought about it, I meditated on the truth that God speaks to us in odd, surprising ways.  If he could talk through a burning bush, why not a storefront ad?  And if I looked at it that way, "rekindle the season" seemed like good advice, especially at the start of Advent.  We get to choose what the season will be like.  So, if we take some time to pray, to study scripture, to engage in service and fellowship, we can indeed rekindle the season.  And we won't have to buy an overpriced cup of coffee to do it!

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