Opinion Archive

Christmas is coming. And along with it, the usual griping about the secularization of this highly meaningful time – yours truly included.

December 2 was the date to kick-off the holiday season with all the trimmings and culminating in the lighted Christmas parade down Main Street.

I’ll admit this Tennessee graduate has a little bias in favor of Florida State. If I had stayed in the state to attend college I would have ended up at FSU.

I pull for the Seminoles 99% of the time. About the only time I don’t cheer on the garnet and gold is when FSU plays Tennessee, or a Seminole loss would help my Vols or Lady Vols.

I felt bitter-sweet emotions as I watched college football over Thanksgiving weekend.

As the Florida State-Florida game ended with a Seminole victory, the announcers calling the game teased the upcoming California at UCLA game and mentioned it would be the last PAC 12 game as we know the conference.

This newspaper is dated Dec. 7, 2023, the 82nd anniversary of the devastating surprise attack by the Japanese against the U.S. Navy’s facilities at Pearl Harbor, Hawai’i. Most Americans know today is Pearl Harbor Day, that the attack precipitated the United States’ entry into World War II and that President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in condemning Japan’s aggression, called Dec. 7, 1941, “a date that shall live in infamy.”

My closet has been the longtime home of two shirts. Like the best of friends, they literally have had my back through thick and thin offering their familiar and comfortable embrace. Cotton. Soft. A comfy fit. They are my favorite shirts.

One time I was walking through a store looking at the various offerings for Christmas gifts. While looking around I saw a large mug – the size intended for someone to enjoy a meal of soup, or for someone who is a very serious coffee drinker. There was a message printed on the mug which, when I first read it, thought it was a bit trite. But then the full meaning of it dawned on me. There was a depth to its message that I don’t know if its creator intended or not.

The holidays are blazing their way in and now we are counting down the shopping days until Christmas, because it has become tradition to spend an exorbitant amount of money on friends and family for one day when most are celebrating the birth of Jesus.

Despite the Christmas decorations in department stores, it is Thanksgiving Day, the day which, in theory, we give thanks. The question that sits before us like the proverbial, giant turkey in the room into which no one dares slice, is: “To whom are we giving thanks?” If you gather on this holiday with family and friends to enjoy an abundant table laden with the traditional fare and someone asks that question, how would you answer?

Sometimes we focus on what we don’t have, or situations we aren’t in, and we lose sight of what we do have and where we are. I know I have a lot to be thankful for – at all times – even when I’m wrapped up in the day-to-day busy-ness of life. I gathered these versus to remind me of what true thanksgiving is and what my gratitude should be focused on. I hope you enjoy them during this time that we take a break from our routines and focus on being thankful for all of our many blessings – or as we set out to purposefully be a blessing to others.