Thanksgiving Day

This year, and every year, I am thankful that Christmas is just around the bend.

How anyone could hate Christmas is beyond me. This is a time of year when people are kind to each other, when people are cheerful and willing to help strangers and express their love for their family. For those of us who may have a hard time saying “I love you,” gift giving and baking and spending time together are the perfect ways to express ourselves.

As long as you don’t procrastinate, the season isn’t stressful. And after all why would anyone wait to indulge in something so wonderful?

So many people complain that we have lost the true meaning of Christmas, that it has become too commercialized. Sure, businesses take advantage of an opportunity, but they also get caught up in the fun. Many of them spend thousands of dollars on decorations that aren’t necessary for them to make money. It’s just fun to be excessive at this time of year.

But while many people won’t outwardly express that they’re Christians in this politically correct world, by participating in the festivities, they’re expressing something Christ-like. If God is love, then our celebrations of Christmas are breathing examples of the reason for the season; we haven’t deviated at all.

I want to spread my Christmas cheer this year in the form of a blog that celebrates all the things that make this holiday wonderful for me. I hope it will remind you of your happy memories and inspire you to check out something new to incorporate into your Christmas traditions. 

SONG: “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams 

MOVIE: Miracle on 34^th Street kicks off Christmas with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, which is when many people is the marker for the start of the Christmas season (although retailers begin earlier and earlier each year). This year, forecasts of wind made it questionable whether the large balloons would fly, but the weather complied and the monstrous characters are floating down the street.

Miracle on 34^th Street is Christmas canon because it addresses our natural tendency toward doubt. Everyone eventually loses their childlike innocence and stops believing in things, whether that be Santa or the Boogeyman or maybe something more mature, like the existence of God. While I am not claiming that believing in Santa is as serious as believing in God, the question of faith in this movie is ambiguous enough to relate to Christianity. Luckily, the tone is light and this movie is a delight to watch annually. With a cast like Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O’Hara, and Natalie Wood, how could you go wrong?