It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Anymore it looks like Christmas long before
Thanksgiving or even Halloween. My
roommate recently expressed her frustration with this phenomenon. She feels it is important to be thankful,
especially when you consider all that our fore fathers went through to get us here.
Yet there are no Thanksgiving carols, very few Thanksgiving specials, and it’s
almost impossible to find a Thanksgiving movie.
Even the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade ends with Santa riding in
signaling the start of Christmas shopping. Thanksgiving has become little more than
a day we stuff ourselves and prepare for the craziness of Christmas shopping. It is a sad statement on our society when we
gloss over the holiday about being grateful for what we have and skip right to
the holiday where we get more stuff.
I wish I could say that things were different in the
quilting world, but in our shop we are already decorated for Christmas. Dozens of Christmas lines come out every year
and very few thanksgiving prints. Thanksgiving
patterns are hard to find yet Christmas patterns are plentiful. Of course a
quilter’s view of Christmas is a little different than most. A quilter’ main concern is, “What can I make
so-and-so for Christmas?” or “How can I get all of these projects done before
Christmas?” When you hand sew all of
your gifts, it makes sense to start a month or two early.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas. I love making things for my family and
friends that show them just how much I care for them and how thankful I am for
them, but we can’t let our enthusiasm for Christmas cause us to forget to take
this opportunity to stop and think about all our blessings. We spend so much time contemplating the true meaning
of Christmas, perhaps we could also take a little time to contemplate the true
meaning of Thanksgiving as well. What
better way to start our holiday season.
To quote Sheryl Crow, “it’s not having what you want. It’s wanting what you’ve got.” Perhaps this
year before we get what we want for Christmas, we can be grateful for what we
have this Thanksgiving.
