Years ago I wrote a Christmas play for small children at our church. Since my name is McMurtrie, I wrote about the adventures of the McMouse family at Christmas time. We had a lot of fun with the concept of mice celebrating Christmas. Why not? Sometimes the easiest way to get an important meaning across to children is through cartoon characters. It works for adults as well.

Let's move the scene over to Thanksgiving. Our extended mouse family is busy watching the hustle and bustle as the household prepares for the holiday. They listen with interest as people come and go. Something important is in the works. What could it be? It wasn't time for Christmas yet. That was a month away.

As the little mouse family watches TV from the safety of the window sill under the curtain hem, they are confused and perplexed. It was early November. All they could see on TV were ads for Christmas celebrations. “Buy this, or buy that! The perfect gift!” They could hear the family talk about Thanksgiving and being thankful for God's bounty. There was a disconnect here. That wasn't the message the TV was spewing out.

If you are wondering where I am going with this, pause a minute and think about what you are seeing on TV. Yes, advertisements for Christmas gifts. It seems to me we went from Halloween straight through to Christmas, totally ignoring Thanksgiving. By late December, the emphasis will turn to Valentine's Day. Am I the only one who is disgusted with the way the media treats our most important holidays. Happy Holidays! Bah humbug! Call it like it is. Happy Thanksgiving! Christmas is a month away. Let's take time to be thankful before the greed of receiving Christmas gifts takes hold.

I remember when there was no television. Then, only the bars had television sets for their patrons to watch sporting events. I remember our first TV. There were three channels. You stood up, approached the television set and manually selected a channel. The advertisements were unobtrusive. Then, lo and behold, came cable. Since we were paying for their service, the commercials would be at a minimum, or so they said. Nowadays, it is common to have a string of ten or twelve commercials all in a row . Of course, that gives you time to go to the bathroom or fix a snack. But when they return to the story line, it can be difficult to pick up the pace.

So folks, it is Thanksgiving time. Let's celebrate in an appropriate way by getting together with family and friends, not by rushing out to catch the early sales. Happy Thanksgiving to all!