‘Tis the Season

Two days before Thanksgiving, the kickoff of the traditional shopping season for Christmas, and economic news weighs like an excessive holiday meal on the body politic. Dire forecasts of shortfalls in sales and profits for retailers follow dismal credit and employment news.

Retail sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas are so important to merchandising health that many retailers may not survive this year. Compounding the other problems, the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is almost as short as the calendar permits. Less than four weeks from Thursday next, only the post-Christmas clearance sales will be left.  In fact, deep price cuts have already started in many stores, continuing a trend from the past few years.

The usual complaints about excessive advertising, and rushing the season have already been the fodder of opinion pages. The complaints about forgetting the relgious implications attendant on the birthday observance for Yeshua bar Josef, the central figure of one of the three major world religions, also get mentioned, along with Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

Time to sit down and watch A Christmas Story once again, with a chaser of It’s a Wonderful Life, then turn off the tube and go to church, synagogue or meeting house, or perhaps just sit down with your family and reflect on what is important. Life goes on, regardless of recession, depression, deflation and distractions.

Selah.