In October, it's all about Halloween. Costumes, decorations and candy fill the stores. Then, as soon as Halloween is over, BANG! its Christmas! The trees are up, the music is playing, the decorations are out and the toys are on sale.
Now just wait a minute here!! What ever happened to Thanksgiving? It is now totally skipped over in the rush to the retail commercialized frenzy that originated with the birth of Jesus.
Don't get me wrong. I love Christmas. I love the music, the decorations, the gathering of families and the giving of presents. But everything in its own time, and let us not overlook Thanksgiving, which is an important holiday in and of itself.
Of course, Thanksgiving, like many other holidays, is all about food. But beyond that, it is about giving thanks. After all, that is the name of the holiday. In this day and age it is easy to skip over the act of giving thanks, or thinking of the things that we have to be thankful for. Most of us are more prone to complaining about what we don't have than being thankful for what we do. I blame the media for this, especially TV and the advertising that goes with it. Advertising makes us dissatisfied with what we have and who we are and leaves us yearning for the products that will make our lives so much better, whether we really need them or not. It doesn't take much TV-watching (aside from the news) to make you realize that your life sucks; that everybody else has more money, a nicer house, a nicer car, is better looking, and is getting way more sex than you are. On the other hand, watching the news can really bring you back to earth. My wife hates watching the news because it depresses her. I, on the other hand, see the problems of so many other people and I realize how good I have it. I might not have tons of money, a big house, a nice new car, the latest cell phone, etc. But I'm healthy, I have a decent job, a loving wife, two teenage kids that have done great in school and aren't into drugs or in jail....and I can come up with lots of other things. My life might be pretty mundane overall but there is plenty to be thankful for. And while each one of us is in a different situation, we all have something to be thankful for.
So Sayeth The Shack
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2 comments:
You know John, I really, really appreciated this post -coming from you. I know how sometimes you can appear to be a bit of a grinch on the outside but those who know you realize you do have lots of soft inner spots too. This post showed them quite plainly. I have to agree with you 100% about Thanksgiving being so overlooked. And, watching the news -yes, it does give -or should -all of us an inkling anyway -that even if we have our own set of problems, we still have it pretty darned good compared to so many others in this country and especially, if you think globally, do today!
Kudos to you on a post very well done!
Thanks Jeni; I appreciate your comments and happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
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