There might be a bit of confusion with the holiday since there are Christmas decorations lightening up the streets already.
Am I behind? I just set out my ceramic turkeys for Thanksgiving.
I must be since most of the department stores have been ready for Christmas since Labor Day.
Has Thanksgiving been reduced to a four-day weekend to pump up airline traffic and Christmas sales?
This isn't a rant about people putting up Christmas decorations long before the Advent season has even begun, but about an appeal to live life in the moment: to embrace the seasons, to embrace the beauty, to embrace the dry times, to embrace the suffering.
I remembered Thanksgiving as a unique and separate day set aside for us to thank God for our many blessings. Perhaps it began losing its significance when we turned our focus onto the feast and not on the gratitude.
This isn't a rant about people putting up Christmas decorations long before the Advent season has even begun, but about an appeal to live life in the moment: to embrace the seasons, to embrace the beauty, to embrace the dry times, to embrace the suffering.
Rushing, rushing, rushing to get our Christmas decorations up feels to me as if we're in a hurry to get over with Christmas, though on the Christian calendar, Christ's birth was December 25. Sure, we don't really know the date of Christ's birth, but at some time the early Christians designated this day for celebration.
Before this celebration is a time of waiting and expectation. In many Christian churches we don't see a Christmas tree until Christmas Eve. Advent is a time the Church advises that we should be giving more priority to evaluating our relationship with God and with others (though it's something we should always do). It's a time we can show greater generosity to others. It's a time we can be praying and fasting for peace and forgiveness in our world.
Getting your decorations up VERY early doesn't mean you can't do all these things, but Christmas lights and food during the Advent season can pose a distraction to the preparatory nature of Advent. We can miss the opportunities for more prayer and generosity.
It's like having summer show up in Wisconsin on February 14th.
Also, the Christmas decorations are a visible sign that Christmas has arrived. For me, these symbols cue me in to celebrate! It's like having summer show up in Wisconsin on February 14th. True, it would be wonderful to have that warm weather, but it would cause many problems with our climate and growing seasons.
I think Ecclesiastes 3:1 says it best:
"There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens" (New American Bible Revised Edition).
Have a blessed Thanksgiving. If you have your Christmas decorations up already, don't take them down. Next year you can start later. For now, let us all just be thankful for each other and for our blessings. Also, pray for peace in our world.
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