Image credit: by Rob Sarmiento (2017) Unsplash.com, CC0 Public Domain[/caption]
It all began with a Twitter discussion of Pumpkin Spice.
The fall-time favorite was a trending topic because it was now available at coffee shops nationwide.
I remarked that, while I am a fan of the flavor, I really shouldn’t be thinking about it until there’s a distinct chill in the air. Coincidentally, my local weather forecaster tweeted that it felt like 106 degrees outside during this same time frame.
I then happened to hear a woman cheerily say that it wasn’t too soon to think about Christmas. I must admit, I am of a different mind.
I think the Catholic Church has it right when it comes to celebrations. For every season, there is a time to celebrate, and a time to prepare for the celebration. The anticipation for the main event can be a time of great joy and expectation. And that preliminary period can really add to the joy of the long-awaited celebration.
Isn’t Christmas a bit brighter when we have prepared through a prayerful and penitential Advent? Isn’t Easter even lovelier when we have soldiered our way through a sacrificial, but spiritually rewarding, Lent? Isn’t the feast all the more mouth-watering when we have disciplined ourselves through a humble fast?
Retailers may have a commercial reason to get a jump start on the seasons. But I prefer a slow-go approach to life. I believe that honoring the sacrament of the present moment helps us to find true joy in life and to relish the many surprises our Lord gifts us along the way.
So I will raise my iced coffee and toast to the joys which lie ahead — and leave the pumpkin spice for another, colder day.
What Holy Days are you awaiting with great expectation?
Copyright 2018 Maria V. Gallagher
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