By Irene Conlan -

Today is the day to clean and tomorrow is the day to cook – at least cook as much as possible ahead of time so Thursday isn’t frantic.  Thanksgiving is two days away.

For some reason I’m feeling more nostalgic than usual this year – must be the age. As I child I remember the excitement of the big dinner and having everyone come. Usually it was at our houseo but some years we went to my grandmother’s. Everyone brought something and everyone seemed genuinely happy to see each other. The house smelled wonderful and there were always other kids to play with. In fact, no one paid much attention to us – they were all too busy with the dinner and catching up on the news – and we were free to do whatever we wanted.  Well, pretty much, anyway.

What we had was lots of family, lots of food, lots of fun. The “grownups” talked about politics, the blessings of the past year, and what they were going to do next year.  The kids played.  When we sat down to eat each one, including each child who was old enough to  talk, said what they were most grateful for. Everyone was grateful for something.

What we didn’t have was TV, football games, or eating Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant. So we didn’t have Christmas before Thanksgiving and we still knew how to enjoy conversation and each other. (And the kids knew how to play without having to to be entertained by cartoons).

I don’t know about you but I’m already tired of the commercials urging me to buy, buy, buy all those desirable gifts that I am told are “musts” this year. The nightly news spews stories of how the merchants are predicting a bad season. Am I supposed to buy out of guilt? The stores have displayed Christmas items since before Halloween and the last three months of the year have become a time to pay homage at the altar of Macy’s, Costco and Walmart among others. Thanksgiving has gotten lost in all this hype.

For the most part the significance has been removed from the holidays. Thanksgiving is a day to overeat and watch football. Christmas and Hanukkah have come to have the same “flavor”  – “what am I going to get?” Many have forgotten the baby in the manger and the festival of lights.

Many have forgotten that  Thanksgiving  is a day to celebrate our blessing of abundance. The harvest is in. We have plenty for the long winter.

We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing . . .