In a spirit contrary to the invitation of the commercial world around us, it invites us to interiority, introspection, purification, simplicity; it asks us to put first things first, to know what we are about. The message of the “holiday” advertisements that now begin before Thanksgiving is: “feel the magic.” We are urged to engage in a materialistic fantasy, to imagine ourselves the possessors of those sparkling consumer items, to get swept up in the illusion that having more things will make us