The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Battle Creek Enquirer

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
By: Rev. Emily Joye McGaughy


Years ago the mega office supply store Staples put out a commercial that has continued to loop on major network television each fall. Some of you might remember this comedic attempt to lure in back-to-school shoppers. An anonymous dad frolicks down the aisle, pushing a shopping cart packed with folders, paper, pencils, rulers and glue. He hops around with jubilee, pulling items off the shelf while the pop-culture Christmas tune “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” plays in the background. Behind the gleeful father follows a pair of siblings shuffling their feet and shoulders slumped, the sadness of summer’s end written all over their bodies.

Good advertising always includes elements that will hook the viewing audience. One way to hook the viewing audience is to include media content that sparks widespread cultural recognition. Staples did a brilliant job of hooking the culture with their back-to-school advertisement because they managed to capture two things almost any family can recognize at summer’s end: 1) parent relief & 2) kid woe. Most parents welcome the routine that a return to school enforces upon the family calendar. Most kids lament the freedom of summer that a return to school inevitably shuts down. Staples got it on both fronts.


Contrary to Western notions of time, human beings live cyclic lives. Even though the U.S. calendar year begins on January 1st, for many people the year begins in late August or early September with the school cycle. The return to school marks a major transition in our culture. It is a transition from cycles of rest to a period of intense productivity. It is a transition from cycles of free play to a period of expectation-filled comings and goings. We go from slowing down, letting loose and chilling out to beginning again, setting in, and getting down to business. When our kids go back to school, they embody a cycle that’s been happening for a long time: cultural investment in education. There is no investment more important to our future.


While this investment cannot be undervalued or underplayed, the return to school can also stress people out. Hustle sets in. Getting kids out of beds and properly bathed, getting breakfast on the table and lunches packed, getting backpacks ready and navigating the school morning traffic build-up—well, let’s just say it’s a miracle that we continue to participate in this cycle year after year given the amount of energy it requires. Yes, it’s a miracle. Investing in education takes a million efforts, big and small, year after year. And it isn’t easy!

As a pastor, I know that the biggest spiritual challenges often come up in times of crisis, but also in the stuff of everyday life. As the school year picks up, with all the miracles and challenges it brings, a cycle gets concretized through those million little efforts, big and small, that we often go about doing without a second thought. But perhaps some ritualized mindfulness might help us hang on to some of summer’s peace throughout the school year. Ritualized mindfulness need not be anything spiritually gargantuan. Ritualized mindfulness can be simple. You could light a candle in acknowledgment of the sacred before waking the kids. Your family could observe a moment of silence together before eating breakfast. You could count blessings in the shower. When stuck in a traffic jam, you could practice deep breathing. The possibilities are endless! The point is that even during the most wonderful time of the year—the time when we as a society reaffirm our investment in education—there can be incredible stress. Introducing a ritual of mindfulness into your routine could produce lasting peace.

So why not try a New Years Resolution in September?