We Gather Together to Start…Christmas Preparations

It’s only the first week of November and I am already stressing about Christmas. Every year I grumble about the season starting earlier and earlier. I actually passed a house last night with a fully decorated tree in the living room! I realize consumerism is what fuels our economy, but I grieve for what we lose when we begin Christmas in October. This time last year my then 9 year old granddaughter and I walked into a store full of Christmas decorations with carols playing. She looked up at me and said “Poor Thanksgiving”.

True, about the only people who make money off Thanksgiving are grocers. And Thanksgiving at Loaves & Fishes is the most hectic time of the whole year – after all without a “feast” you don’t have a Thanksgiving holiday, right? But I think we miss the whole point of Thanksgiving. In our headlong rush to start “the giving season”, we lose the thankful season.

I know I will not be able to postpone all Christmas plans and preparations until after Thanksgiving. But this year I am determined to savor the peace and joy I experience when I take time to realize how many things I have to be grateful for. And Thanksgiving – a day set aside to be grateful – is one of them!