This holiday season, fear that hits home is touching too many people And you have but to look at the news rolling out…day after day…dire reports of layoffs and big money bailouts and numbers so big, with so many commas and zeroes, you almost can’t conceive ‘em.

50,000 layoffs here, 50,000 layoffs there, and…well, it makes you want to smack the faces of the people who treat ‘em as numbers…when these are real people’s lives. The whole culture of GASP–greedy and selfish people–is getting a smack in the face these days with reality. If only they will listen.

Food pantries and homeless shelters are in greater need these days. And there’s other things we might not usually think about. Blood services facing shortages when bad weather forces cancellations of drives in places where we’re pretty sprawled out…like the Dakotas. It just takes a little looking around your own neighborhood.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we did things a little different this holiday season?

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every family who’s hosting a Thanksgiving this year would ask the guests to bring canned goods and then they take ‘em to a local shelter or food pantry or church or charity? A way to make Thanksgiving dinner last a little longer for everyone.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every company hosting a holiday/Christmas party, every Symphony Ball, every church supper, every Christmas program in the schools would ask that attendees bring along packaged foods for local charities and food pantries.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every New Year’s Eve party….yeah, you get the idea….

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, while we’re urging Obama to step up and start to solve America’s financial and other crises now, we stepped up, too?

Starting now…

Brother, sister, we know we can all spare a can o’peas…the question is if we will….
.
(crossposted at homeblog Prairie Sun Rising)