Just Slow Down, We'll Get To Christmas Eventually

As we approach Thanksgiving, it’s important to remember to slow down and really appreciate this holiday for what it is. Christmas music has already begun playing in some places and society always seems to go from Halloween to Christmas as if Thanksgiving wasn’t at all important. And to make matters worse, Thanksgiving doesn’t seem to even get a whole day anymore as Black Friday shopping and deals begin in stores as early as Thanksgiving afternoon. Black Friday does plenty to accentuate the “more, more, more” mentality we seem to have as a society, as every year there seems to be stories of mobs of people gathering at the malls and sadly even of people getting trampled, all for material things. The commercialism draws us away from being thankful for what we have already, including not only material things but things that truly matter, like friends, family, and our faith in God. It also takes us away from what Christmas means, the coming of Jesus Christ as man to save us.

When we slow down and live in the moment, being thankful for what we have currently and spending time around the people who matter most, we realize that material things matter less and less and we open our hearts to God and what He really wants us to focus on. Greed takes us away from Him and puts the focus on ourselves, but gratitude and being poor in spirit causes us to realize that we can’t do anything for ourselves and puts the focus back on God. We realize that He is the reason that we have what we have. Flipping the script and taking things slow by celebrating Thanksgiving fully also reminds us that God is in control and things happen in His time. You’re going to get your Christmas shopping done. You’ll get all your prep done. Just breathe and enjoy Thanksgiving because that’s what God wants, He wants you to lean on Him and trust Him to help you with everything else. He also wants you to focus on Him and realize that He is all that you need. We need to ditch the “more, more, more” mentality and learn to take things in and give to others instead of taking for ourselves. When we do this, we become happier and learn to love God and others as we should.

If you are going shopping for Black Friday, be kind and don’t go overboard. Greed is one of the seven deadly sins and it will lead to a callous heart. Just slow down and remember what really matters as we celebrate Thanksgiving and journey toward Christmas.