Small Things Count

Today is “Giving Tuesday,” a holiday designed to balance out the self-absorbed madness of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  On this day, business, charities, communities, and families enter into the spirit of giving.  EVERYONE can participate.  If not with our wallets, then with our excess food in our pantries or the second Buy-one/Get-One-Free item.  With that like-new clothing we loved when we bought it but know we’ll never wear.  With those toys our kids opened Christmases ago but sit in their boxes, unplayed with.  With blankets and rain ponchos for the homeless who are about to be caught in what promises to be a harsh winter.  Or simply with the gift of our time: to help at a shelter or soup kitchen; to visit a lonely elder in a nursing home; to comfort a grieving family; to be with a troubled child.  I hope Giving Tuesday expands to Giving Everyday.  During this month, though, it turns the madness into a loving anticipation of a Christmas season packed with all the meaning it’s supposed to have.