Now that Thanksgiving is a near but swiftly fading memory, we set our sights on Christmas.  Okay, you Believers out there -- I know I should have said Advent, but let’s face it -- from the looks of things very few folks are in a mode of expectancy.  Two days before Thanksgiving I stopped at a Walgreen’s drugstore and the clerk said Happy Holidays as I departed the counter after paying for my stuff.   

The Christmas season has become the most commercial time of the year, and each year it seems to start earlier than the year before.  This year was a little different; most stores weren’t so blatantly obvious about it.  Still, instead of the day after Thanksgiving, there was evidence of Christmas in retail stores before Halloween.  

Every year we rack our brains

Trying to find the ultimate things.

When if we just sat still awhile,

We would save quite a mile

Of running hither and thither and yonder.

Running frantically, full of wonder.

What could it be that I could get

To give ultimate pleasure without much debt?

And all the while we wonder on

If we will receive what we most want

How wouldit be if we kept the Christmas sprit throughout the year?  – gifting our family and friends and the folks we don’t know that some of us only remember in December – we call them the poor, the homeless.  What if we just gave from our hearts all through the year?  Would we be more reasonable and prudent with our resources?  Is there any other time of the year that folks typically go way overboard and beyond the bounds of their budgets?  Don't you think it be great to remember those who have less – or little – throughout the year?  

You probably won’t believe this – but I tell you it’s the truth:  you have never seen real gratitude until you given a hungry person some food -- or teach someone to read -- or help someone get a job.   And you know what I have found?  When I really feel down, one thing that can pick me up is doing something for someone else.  It’s a whole lot better than searching for that perfect present – that car – that fur coat – that humongous diamond ring – and giving it to someone who may value the thing more than he or she values you.  Don’t you think you’re worth more than a car – a fur -- or a diamond?