Wednesday, November 23, 2005

The Speed Bump Before Christmas

We're heading out to Defiance this afternoon for a little family time at the holidays. We'll be in Defiance until Saturday. Thanksgiving has become a pretty interesting end of the year holiday. Corporate America has succeeded in demoting Thanksgiving to little more than the speed bump before Christmas. It is always interesting to see the Halloween masks next to Christmas cards in the aisles of stores. Rather quickly over the past few years the Christmas season has usurped any special place Thanksgiving may have once had in the American culture. And should we be suprised?

In many ways Thanksgiving is diametrically opposed to Corporate America's Christmas season. Thanksgiving teaches us to be thankful for what we have: our material blessings, our family blessings, our national blessings, and on and on. It forces us to look at all the things that we have and say, "Aren't I blessed to have all these things?" Corporate America's Christmas forces us to ask the qusetion, "Wouldn't it be great for me to have these things that I don't already have? I really need more things."

At the heart of Christmas is one of the most holy celebrations - the birth of the Christ. However, so much of that is now overshadowed by Christmas cards, business dinners, and holiday shopping. Now it has become the financial savior to most businesses. Is there anything wrong with this?

I don't know, but there is a "reason for the season" as we are so fond of speaking, as there is a reason to the Thanksgiving season. Stop for a moment this week and remember all those who do not have what you have. Those people who spend the holiday alone. Those whose families have abandoned them. The widows and the orphans. Those without food on the table. Those whose Thanksgiving feast might be rice and bread. The troops in Iraq who are learning how to run their new country. The American troops in Iraq who are away from their families. And the list of the disenfranchised goes on and on. Remember those people this week. Be thankful for what you have . . . and consider ways that you can take what you have and help those who do not have.

Enjoy the holiday time as I am sure we will. Our first snow is coming this week. We're looking at a couple of inches today and tonight. Tomorrow it's going to be freezing. Have a great Thanksgiving!

1 comment:

Frankie said...

Hey Adam, you and Joe Carr both noticed how Thankgiving gets the shaft.

http://www.xanga.com/joecarrl/393713346/item.html