By Hanson Reed | Echo
This is a call to arms. The battle is bloody, the lines drawn tearing the bonds of family and roommate-hood asunder. I will not speak of peace nor quarter; I will not speak of tolerance nor understanding. I will speak only of fighting for what is right. Though the world closeth in upon me and the light groweth dim, I shall never think the word "parley."
I know I do not stand alone.
It seems that every year Christmas starts earlier at the stores. This is bothersome, but they are out to make money. If that means making me sift through ridiculously early Christmas merchandise as I shop for Halloween decorations, there is not much I can do about it.
What I fail to see any justification for is how early the season starts in the noncommercial world. Maybe I grew up in a hole under a rock, but when I was a kid, I swear there was at least a short Thanksgiving season. Fall colors and turkeys were everywhere. Depending on the year, there may have even been a few leaves still hanging around. In those days, I didn't even think the word "Christmas" until December.
Those days are gone, but in defense of a holiday once revered in its own right, the loyal few have drawn a line against which any assault is of the utmost offence: NO CHRISTMAS MUSIC BEFORE THANKSGIVING!
It is upon this ground I will stand and perish.
Some may wonder why it matters. Some may even accuse us of lacking true holiday spirit, but nothing could be farther from the truth.
I love the Christmas season with a passion. I love Christmas music more than you can know. I love that we can steep ourselves in the joy of Christmas for an entire month. However, I feel that by appropriating the trappings of the traditional Christmas season and extending them over an ever greater period, we cheapen them. When the Christmas season becomes too long, we don't increase the pleasure it brings us. All we do is water it down, all while usurping Thanksgiving's traditional significance. Did you know, for example, that the song "Over the River and Through the Woods" was originally a Thanksgiving song? It was first published as a poem titled "A Boy's Thanksgiving Day" (the words were later changed).
I was in Euler the other day. Well, I'm in Euler most days, but this particular day something struck me as peculiar. It was decorated. Not as I would hope given the season (we are about to leave for Thanksgiving break, yes?), but with wreaths and lights clearly indicative of Christmas, still well over a month away. Now, I understand that I cannot expect Thanksgiving decorations everywhere. Putting them up in Euler just in time to take them down might be viewed as unnecessary work. That's fine.
What I cannot understand in the least, however, is why we insist on trampling an American holiday when the decorations could just as easily be put up afterward. Thanksgiving isn't just a day to mark the beginning of Christmas. Thanksgiving is a day to remember. It is a day to remember the Pilgrims and colonists who brought forth our civilization on this continent. It is a day to remember the founding of our country, and all those who have worked to make it great. It is a day to remember the fruitfulness of the land we inhabit, even though most of us no longer work it ourselves. It is a day to remember all who have gone before us and those who are yet with us, and above all to remember God, who has provided us with all of these blessings.
Somehow, I doubt the Pilgrims and American Indians gathered at the first Thanksgiving because they thought it would be a great way to kick off the shopping season.
So, for the sanctity of both holidays, please refrain from celebrating Christmas until Thanksgiving has passed.
If you are one of those individuals who insists on subjecting the rest of us to your premature "holiday cheer," I know nothing of your smashed speakers.
