Happy Holidays!  When I was a child, the greeting was Merry Christmas; as a Catholic, that never seemed even remotely insensitive to me.  Now that I’m a little more tuned in to others, I almost always say Happy Holidays – turns out that’s offensive to some of my Christian sisters and brothers.  I guess it’s a sign of our almost limitless prosperity that we spend time worrying about this and arguing over semantics.

We all have our own struggles, but this is the time of the year to do a few things:

• Be thankful for our blessings – our family, our friends, our jobs, our health, our children, our access to food, shelter and medical care.  Regardless of how difficult it may seem right now, being grateful for what we do have can help us to work through our worries.
• Help others – whether that’s loose change into the red kettle, a giving tree gift at church or the Y, or just a kind word to a stranger, helping others helps us.
• Remember and pray for our soldiers, for the ill, for the homeless or others struggling in this holiday season.  Regardless of our own circumstances, others need our thoughts and prayers – take time during this season to remember these folks.

Regardless of whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or even Festivus, I hope your holidays are safe, joyous and filled with family and friends.  I also hope that 2008 is a happy, healthy and prosperous year for you and yours.  Thank you for your patronage in 2007, and I hope we do business again in 2008.

P.S. – just so you don’t think I’ve gone hopelessly soft, you can still get tape in time for gift wrapping!