I read in the news that Target® plans to be closed on Thanksgiving. This is good news. I hope that soon other retail stores will follow suit. Consumerism has driven our society for far too long. Since my childhood, stores have stayed open later and later. Over the years, holidays began to be disregarded and many stores began staying open all night long. Driving through Denver in recent years, you encounter traffic regardless of the time of day or night. I am sure it is the same in major cities across America. New York became known as the city that never sleeps and later on, Chicago was a second contender for the reference.
Will we one day look back upon this time as one in which the general population was sick from the overindulgence of material things? Our unwillingness to stop and rest has created problems that most refuse to see. We may have greater availability of food and water than we had 150, or more years ago; but we have more people who are sick. Millions of people suffer from insomnia.
The distraction of electronic devices coupled with blue lights, street lamps, and other lights beaming at us from all directions, contribute to the disappearing darkness. The near constant noise of traffic, televisions, and radio stations all add to the discordant harmony, accompanied by dogs barking, appliances humming, and power tools screeching. All of this noise and light contributes to the lack of sleep in many. People are tired. Their weariness turns into anger and hostility. It appears as road rage, drug addiction, suicide, and murder.
I am not a religious person, but I believe that society is suffering a kind of malnourishment from the lack of regular days of rest. I wish that we could go back to a time when stores closed at a reasonable hour and all were closed on Sundays. How much more peaceful would we be, as a society, if we devoted one day to spending quality time with our loved ones and families? Could we go back to having Sunday dinners and simply sitting on the porch, relaxing? When we recognize that consumerism is an addiction, just as dangerous as television and white sugar, we come to understand that we have the power to say no. Let’s begin to say no to stores being open on holidays and Sundays. Let’s say no to Daylight Savings Time, which in truth, saves us no time. Let’s create more peace in our lives by devoting one day a week to promoting it. Let’s begin by turning out the lights once in a while.
