Archive for thanksgiving

The Perfect Thanksgiving Guest: 12 Tips

The heroes of Thanksgiving are the family cooks. They chop, slice, dice and roast. Like mathematicians, they figure out how to stagger five roasting pans over eight hours using one oven. They make it look so easy, greeting guests with a breezy, “Come on in!” even as they tick off a mental to-do list with […]

Thanksgiving 2019: Dealing with hot button issues. Just don’t

(Photo by Suzette Martinez Standring, Houghton’s Pond, Milton, MA) Thanksgiving celebrates togetherness and family feasting, and perhaps, it also calls for restraint. I am not talking about the groaning buffet and ten desserts.  I am talking about not talking about hot button issues. Live for the greater good and show mercy to the poor cook […]

Boston Firefighter: God’s got my back

(Special thanks to Bill Noonan for allowing the use of his photos of January 12, 2016 fire. http://www.billnoonanfirefotos.com Today when Boston firefighter Larry Smith, a 27-year veteran, rushes into burning buildings, his courage is fueled by faith. Twenty-two years ago he was blinded in a raging house fire. During that ordeal he discovered only God could […]

Saying Grace: The Power of Intention

Nationally, Thanksgiving is a collective mindset of gratitude to forces greater than ourselves. Like a Norman Rockwell painting, heads bow over grace when families gather, everyone primed for thanks. Yet for many, saying grace is the holiday exception, not the daily rule.  Many might ask, “Well, isn’t a group blessing just the official signal to […]

Black Friday: Overcome the Darkness

Black Friday is aptly named. Everyone’s dark side is out when the last nerve is drilled down trying to buy that “smart” toy, a tie, or the last leather bag in saddle brown. Now big sales on Thanksgiving splinter the holiday further. Is the football game on the wide screen TV the only glue holding […]