Halloween came and went. With its departure, shop owners in downtown Siloam placed nativity sets in their store windows and hung wreaths on their doors. Wal-Mart underwent a Christmas makeover and now beams Christmas cheer to local shoppers. Radio stations broke out the Christmas classics such as “White Christmas” and “Jingle Bells” in an early attempt to stuff Christmas carols into their listeners’ heads destined to haunt them until February.
But contrary to what Christmas commercialization may be telling us, our next holiday is not called “Christmas Part I.” The name’s Thanksgiving.
We The Threefold Advocate consider Thanksgiving one of the most important holidays of the year. The season gives us the opportunity to take stock of our lives and praise God for the blessings he’s given us. It’s a holiday dedicated to thankfulness—a time of realizing just how good we have it. A time of acknowledging the Lord’s hand in our lives and thanking him for his goodness.
As the wealthiest nation in the world, America has fully experienced the comforts of material blessings. It would follow that Americans would demonstrate an awareness and thankfulness for those blessings.
Yet the way we honor Black Friday, the very day after Thanksgiving, shows just how little we understand the meaning of Thanksgiving and the essence of what the holiday celebrates. Going berserk in an attempt to cram more stuff into our already crowded homes does not demonstrate an attitude of thankfulness.
We The Threefold Advocate ask you to set a different tone during the few weeks remaining in November. Yes, Christmas is coming. The holiday will have it’s time. For now, let’s dedicate the next few weeks to concentrating on our blessings and thanking God for all that we have.