I know that there are some folk who find the rush to Christmas depressing, discouraging, even damnable. To judge from the conversations of a few, this pre-season frenzy is indicative of all that is wrong with the world. The "haruumphs!" are worthy of old Ebenezer himself.

On the other hand, the race to Christmas suggests to me a deep, if inarticulate, yearning for better times. The tendency to bedeck one’s home in gauche lights and kitschy displays reveals the unending expectation that life should be better than it is.

The mass media, of course, feed this desire with sweetly sentimental advertisements depicting the happiest of families gathered in warm, cozy and oh-so-exquisite dining rooms while the snow gently falls from the heavens.

I am really not suggesting that there is anything wrong with all this romantic reverie. I simply find it curious that, year after year, we buy into a fantasy that inevitably fails.

Perhaps this year we should put our longing into a clearer perspective and recognize that the possibility for special times exists everyday and not only the last week in December.

Imagine the prospect of celebrating Christmas more often than once a year!

I suggest every Thursday.

Visualize the happiness that could be ours if every Thursday the schools and stores would all be closed, gifts would be exchanged, wonderful meals would be shared, hearts would be filled with thoughts of peace on earth and good will to all.

So what’s stopping us?

Oh, I can hear the grinches already deriding the proposal,

" Why, if we had Christmas every Thursday, it wouldn’t be really special."

Such thinking always confuses me. After all, I love my wife but if we decided to limit our lovemaking to once a year...

Occasionally, when I am planning what hymns to sing on Sunday morning, I’ll surprise my sleepy flock with "Joy to the World" in August or "Away in the Manger" on a gray February morning. You should see their faces beam.

So what about every Thursday?

If this really took off, the restaurant business would boom, the gift shops should flourish and, coincidentally, the churches would be packed.

This is a really a great idea.

The only folk who might be against my recommendation would be those who suffer from post-holiday blues. They’re probably not going to be too keen on all of this.

Merry Thursday, everyone!