Perhaps the best thing about a Thanksgiving feast is how surprisingly easy it is to prepare the main course: put turkey into oven, achieve safe temperature for human consumption, take turkey out of oven. Voila! It's the culinary equivalent of “just the facts, ma’am.”
‘Tis the gift to be free
The holiday’s aftermath is anything but simple though. A frenzied gift-getting dash seems to begin before the kitchen is even cleaned up. And we’ve made it a complicated endeavor, too. Think about it. Ralphie didn’t ask for a BB gun in A Christmas Story. He obsessively pined for an “official Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot, range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time.” Welcome to the most wonderfully complex time of the year.
‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be
If there’s one upside to our emphasis on finding “the perfect gift” for everyone on our list, it’s that, for a few weeks each year, we center our actions on the good of others, united around the notion that it’s better to give than to receive.
And when we find ourselves in the place just right, 'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
What is the perfect gift? Call me idealistic, but I believe it’s whatever has the capacity to change the recipient’s life and, by extension, our own. I invite you to test my theory.
On November 29, Giving Tuesday, MCFL will launch a 24-hour fundraising campaign. Our goal: $5,000 to cover printing and distribution costs of our new pocket-sized fetal development booklet for students.
When true simplicity is gained, To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed
We know that once young people see the simple reality of prenatal life, they are more likely to protect it. Yet because most Massachusetts schools do not teach basic biological facts of an unborn child, it’s up to you and me to do so. I’m proud of my colleagues who’ve worked hard over the last couple of months to choose the most fascinating facts and curate the most compelling images for this 28-page piece, achieving the desired tone for young human consumption.
To turn, turn will be our delight, Till by turning, turning we come ’round right.
With your help, we’ll raise enough money so that 10,000 Massachusetts teens can pick up this booklet, turn off their phones and spend at least a few minutes turning from one page to the next. You’ll have planted in their hearts what is right, perhaps the most perfectly simple gift of all.
Thank you in advance for contributing. Enjoy the rest of your Thanksgiving weekend!
Myrna
Myrna Maloney Flynn
President, Massachusetts Citizens for Life
P.S. You don't need to wait until Tuesday to make a gift. Click on this secure link now to be one of the first to participate in MCFL's Giving Tuesday campaign: www.masscitizensforlife.org/giving_tuesday_2022.