Well, the turkeys gone, the visiting over, and most of us are about to embark on that whirlwind between Thanksgiving and Christmas that leaves little time for thinking much less reflection. We will try and put happy faces on for our friends, coworkers, and family -- yet in the back of our minds will be the next three things on our schedule that can't possibly get done if we take time out to enjoy the activity in front of us. We will be so busy planning, purchasing, and presenting over the next month that our Thanksgiving gratitude will just kind of melt away. What began as an opportunity to gratefully reflect on the things around us during the past year has been relinquished to "the calm before the storm" of the holiday season.
I can see it around me already. In South Florida an estimated 40,000 people crowded a major shopping mall on black Friday -- by 1:00 am in the morning! Makes me wonder how long lived the Thanksgiving part of the Thanksgiving holiday was for these folks. By early Friday afternoon we were reading about a temporary employee who had been stampeded to death as he opened up a Walmart store. By late Friay that became a byline to two men fatally shooting each other in a Toys'R'Us while kids shopped around them. Are you kidding me? Haven't we learned any lessons about greed and profiteering in the past few months?
I'm calling for a truce. Let's put our schedules in check for the next couple of weeks. Instead of the panic that accompanies being ready for the next activity, why don't we all commit to living in the moment. Do you know what I mean -- enjoying the people, places, and things we have right in front of us. Let's take the time for the smiles and the hugs that we will give in abundance during the next few weeks to be genuine. Who knows, in the process we might actually get back to teaching those behind us what these holidays are really all about.
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" The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination. " - Don Williams, Jr.
About Me
Thinking Out Loud
September 27, 2008; Faith and Community Forum at The Florida Center
2 comments:
I agree totally with you Rodger! This year (especially) I would much rather spend time celebrating the true meaning of Christmas with friends and family and stay out of the line of traffic at the malls/stores. It seems like in today's society that it is what you "bought" for someone or what you "got" from someone that counts instead of using that "time" to show love to others!
Well said. Why is it that one has to fight to wait until after Thanksgiving to begin Christmas and even then the shopping begins at an ungodly hour? Keeping a thankful attitude seems to be more challenged all the time. I just lost my grandmother yesterday so I can so relate to the abundant hugs that are needed over all the stuff.
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