As a little girl, as a teenager, even as a young adult, I proclaimed Thanksgiving to be my favorite holiday. In the world of children, Christmas reigned as favorite since most could reasonably expect presents. In the world of religious adults, Christmas and Easter held equal sway as the appropriate favorite. But for me it has always been Thanksgiving. I'll just be honest--I think initially food, namely mashed potatoes and pie, relegated that Thursday in November to cherished day of the year in my calendar. I expect too that the relatively relaxed nature of the holiday in comparison to the chaotic Christmas celebrations appealed to my little introvert soul. We wore jeans (unheard of in that holiday dress pageantry world). We watched football. Sometimes we ate in the living room or wherever we could find an empty seat or patch of floor. As I aged, it remained my favorite for those same reasons. But these past few years, as I have grown, I find my reasons changed. As much as I dread the all-ready here and seemingly endless winter, I realized today that these months of November through March also contain my three favorite holiday "seasons:" Thanksgiving, Advent, and Lent.
Thanksgiving a dream combination word for the English-language lover. A word so simple in its make-up that we immediately memorize it and forget what it means. Thanks Giving. Giving Thanks. It's not a noun; it's a verb! An action verb at that! Give thanks! Just do it!
I look forward to this holiday every year, arranging my autumnal decorations in October, eeking my way through Halloween, all in anticipation of this one day where we gather, friends and family, to give thanks. I often feel alone in this anticipation. The day after October 31st, the Christmas candy replaced the Halloween candy on the grocery store shelves. Christmas lights appeared overnight. I passed decorated trees framed in house windows and found the "soft rock" radio station playing non-stop Christmas music, a full 55 days prior to that holiday! With all that has to be done for Christmas, teacher gifts and family gifts and and cleaning and planning (and pondering those dreaded new year's resolutions too), Thanksgiving becomes a deadline we must meet to ensure we're on track for the 25th of December. We rush through it, focusing on those traditional details of turkey and pie.
Or we're encouraged to view it as a conservative "take-it-back" holiday. Remember the pilgrims and Indians. How they got a long and shared and how all people came to America for religious freedom? (nevermind the sarcasm, I'll get off my soapbox before I even start the lecture.).
The truth is that Thanksgiving is not a holiday of the past. It's a holiday of the present. Right now! This moment! This whole month and especially the 27th of November. Now is the time to Give Thanks! Reflect on these past months, days, hours, minutes. And rejoice. Gather together and give thanks. Share your joy, your gratitude with one another. Care for one another. Lift each other up with hope-filled words.
My challenge to you this November 27 is to Give Thanks. Get together with friends or family or both. Eat whatever you all like most to prepare and devour! Wear your comfortable clothes. And while you talk and laugh, give thanks.
This is the best way to prepare your heart and spirit for the coming seasons of Advent and Christmas. Taking time to remember all your blessings. I know there is pain and hurt and hunger in the world. And we can--we must--get and give help. But first, we have to stop and give thanks.
Happy Thanksgiving!
