That you’re reading this proves the Mayans were wrong. We have all survived yet another professed apocalypse.

     Having dodged this bullet, it’s on with the celebration of the season. As we frantically rush to find that perfect last minute gift in the few waning hours we have left to prepare for Christmas day, let’s be mindful that our holiday shopping practices, and our buying habits all year long, have consequences to ourselves and to our community.

     To the point, please spend your shopping dollars with our local merchants. There are a number of good economic reasons to do so.

     First, from a self-serving standpoint, dollars spent at home stay at home, supporting the community services you have come to expect and enjoy. Your sales tax dollars go back into your local schools, your parks, your police and fire departments, your roads and bridges. So spend a little on yourself this season by keeping your sales taxes at home.

     Not only do the tax dollars you spend here stay here, but so do the jobs and the residual profits each purchase produces.

     Providing local goods and services takes manpower – local manpower. The clerk at the checkout counter at the grocery store, the waitress at the restaurant, the salesman at the car dealership, all bring home a paycheck and are able to support their family thanks to your dollars being spent locally.

     Jesus said the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. What better way to celebrate Him this season than to practice his commandments and support our neighbors’ livelihoods here in Brookhaven.

     Supporting local businesses helps to preserve our community’s distinctive character.

     Brookhaven is truly unique in its retail makeup and selection of services. I hope and trust this is appreciated. I often joke sarcastically as I travel across the states and point out the shopping centers made up of Best Buy, Target, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Pet Smart, Chili’s and, or Applebee’s. This ubiquitous combination of brick and mortar can be found in city after city from one coast to the other.

     I have nothing against these stores. Most provide tolerable service and a wide selection of recognizable products. Their big selling point is convenience and continuity. Sadly, though, many hometowns across this great nation have allowed their unique history and character to erode to these chain stores and restaurants. It’s becoming harder and harder to tell one town from another.

     Riding in a car, I could fall asleep outside of Jackson and wake up just outside of Monroe or Shreveport or Dallas or Waco or North Austin and never know I’d traveled. Straddling the interstate, these foyers to their communities all look the same. I’m envious of the heritage Brookhaven has held onto, and I hope we’ll continue to work to preserve it.

     Shopping in Brookhaven will save you money. A quick drive to Jackson will, according to AAA, cost the average midsize car driver around $25 there and back. So that $50 dinner just cost you 50 percent more, or that $10 candle more than tripled in price. Not to mention the two-plus hours of drive time you could have spent doing something far more enjoyable and rewarding than gripping a steering wheel.

     Shopping locally also helps support those in need in our community. Local churches, charities and community groups rely on the goodness of those of us who labor and prosper here.

     The list can go on and on, but you get the point. The downside to all this is your shopping will likely take more time here at home. That clerk at the register will probably stop to ask about your grandkids, or how your mother’s doing. This time of year you’ll have to talk a little football with the sales rep and look at pictures of this year’s trophy buck.

     But life is a series of tradeoffs. You can pour in the gas, grip the wheel and go help build a park for somebody else’s kids, or you can shop locally and help yourself while you help your neighbor. It’s your choice.

     I wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas. Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

     Rick Reynolds is president/publisher of The Daily Leader. Contact him at rreynolds@dailyleader.com.