Oh… the dreaded Black Friday.

Believe it or not.. if you are waiting for the Friday after Thanksgiving to go shopping, you are already missing out on the “HUGE Black Friday Deals Going On NOW!”  Yessssirrreeee Bobby.  Every store on the planet seems to be running such ads.

Uggghhhhh.  People.  I ask you.  What have we become?  Honest to goodness.  Black Friday starting two weeks before Thanksgiving?  Christmas music piping in over the airwaves all the month of November?  Christmas Candy was on the shelves before Halloween was over?  I’m pretty sure in a couple of weeks, we will be seeing Easter candy lining the aisles.

Please don’t mistake my disdain for dislike.

I like Thanksgiving.  I like Christmas.  And Easter.  There are always crazy-good meals on these days.  You know… mashed-potatoes-and-gravy-kinds-of-meals.

But the thing of it is… we’ve lost all semblance of sanity when it comes to the Holidays.  The whole gift-giving scenario of Christmas has grown to epic proportions.  People are thugging each other the day after Thanksgiving to get $3 off a sweater.  That’s the spirit of Christmas I’ll tell you.

C’mon people now.  Smile on your brother.  Everybody get together… try to love one another right now.

If you detect a note of cynicism, you are right.   I don’t think it will ever change, but we’ve lost sight of the meanings of things.  In theory, these are all great holidays.  In practice, it is mostly a commercialized whirly-gig with a party on the side.

It is a little unfair of me really.  I mean, when I was a kid… I loved getting presents on Christmas morning!  What kid really wants to sit at Mass for 90 minutes… when they could be shredding into wrapping paper and crunching on candy canes.

But the wholeness is fading.

Sitting still and reflecting.  Being at peace…..and seeking peace.  Giving thanks.

These are things we should be shopping for and giving.  And you can only purchase them at one place… and all for the same price.

It is in the everyday living of life.  Showing up early, and opening a door for someone else.  The door of compassion.  Giving welcome.  Giving comfort.  Paying things back and forward, left and right.

The currency comes from the heart. And the more you give, the more you receive.

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.  —  Gilbert K. Chesterton