Plan Ahead

I dont know if you have noticed but out stores are filled with things to buy for the holiday. "What holiday/" You would not be amiss to ask this question.. Side by side are the goodies for three fall holidays. Halloween  paraphernalia is there and will be until next Thursday...that is unless it is sold after the fact in a 50% off sale.

Then there are Thanksgiving and harvest items to pick up to beautify your house. 

Last but not least...alas and alack...one aisle over from the turkeys and pilgrims you go to red, green, silver and gold land. Ah yes, now Christmas begins in late September these days.

In the light of keeping the Reason for the Season in place and not the hype I am posting a Christmas poem that tries to encourage a prospective of moderation and leaving yourself with some quiet time to appreciate the real meaning of Christmas and to enjoy its meaning. 

BEING ABLE TO DO THIS CAN BE THE RESULT WHEN YOU PLAN AHEAD

Facing Christmas

Facing Christmas

I shall attend to my little errands of love
      Early this  year
So that the brief days before Christmas may be
Unhampered and Clear
Of the fever of hurry. The breathless rushing,
      That I have known in the past.
Shall not possess me. I shall be calm in my soul
And ready at last.
For Christmas, “The Mass of the Christ.”

I shall kneel and call out His name;
I shall take time to watch the beautiful light
Of candle flame;
I shall have leisure – I shall go out alone
From my roof and my door
I shall not miss the silver silence of stars
As I have before;
And, oh, perhaps – If I stand there very still,
And very long -
I shall hear what the clamor of living has kept from me;
      The Angels’ song!

---Grace Noll Crawford, 1919

From The Radient Quest
        Harper and  Brothers Publishers, 1940

 shared by Connie Clark