Thanksgiving: Obligation or State of Mind
"The thankful heart opens our eyes to a multitude of blessings that continually surround us."
For some, the moment Halloween ends means that Christmastime has begun. The Spirit Halloweens vanish, returning to the grave until next year, and pop-up holiday stores, Christmas tree outlets, and Salvation Army Santas start to cover everything as quickly as the first snowfall. Well, if you have snow that is. Sadly, that’s something we’re lacking down here in southern California…
This premature celebration could be explained in a few different ways, and truthfully everyone has their own reasons for starting the December festivities a month early. Some people just love Christmas. We have a friend or two in this boat, and they consistently have their trees up by November 1st. These are the types who usually try to extend Christmas on the back end as well, keeping their trees up until a week, or even a month, past New Years.
On the other hand, the businesses and corporations involved see this “pre-Christmas” season as an opportunity to make a bit more dough ahead of Advent. Let’s be honest, unless you count the turkeys, Thanksgiving doesn’t sell. So, if these big-shot execs want their “Christmas bonus,” it’s vital that they do well in the final quarter of the year, November included.
My wife and I took the Little Miss to the galleria yesterday evening to get out, walk around, and check on a few baby clothes sales that were happening. As we wandered the mall, it looked like the Ghost of Christmas Present threw up all over, but the hordes of people around us didn’t seem to mind. It seemed as if every store had some sort of sale going on, all packed to the brim full of patrons hoping to get buy their Christmas gifts early. No doubt, these companies know what they’re doing.
Even still, besides those who love Christmas dearly and the companies trying to capitalize on the holiday season, there are others who just care very little about Thanksgiving at all. Though the other groups fall into this camp as well, these folks would sooner forget the meaning of “Turkey Day” entirely rather than spend a whole month meditating on it. After all, what do we have to be thankful for anyway?
(Please note the extreme sarcasm that is that last sentence.)
This brings me to the point of this week’s musing: Thanksgiving shouldn’t be ignored, it should be genuinely celebrated.
There are many different Thanksgiving traditions all around the world, including in the African country of Liberia, a few of the Caribbean nations, and one celebrated by our northern neighbors in Canada. However, none of these compare to the feast that is the American Thanksgiving, the first of which occurred sometime in the early 1600s.
Most of us who grew up learning American history know about the “first” Thanksgiving held by the Mayflower Pilgrims in New England after traveling across the Atlantic. After the Wampanoag tribe and Squanto, the last known member of the Patuxet, had helped the people of Plymouth survive and thrive the previous winter (in exchange for protection against the Narragansett tribe, who were their sworn enemies), the colonists celebrated the success of the harvest sometime between the end of September and mid-November. It was a feast, and when the natives arrived to investigate the festivities, they were immediately welcomed in to join. In total, there were about 50 pilgrims and 90 natives involved (per Chicago Tribune).
Regardless of how or when Thanksgiving started, the truth behind it remains. Thanksgiving was meant to be a celebration of survival, a time of thanks for the blessings they’ve received from above, and a time to bring people together and welcome others into our lives. Whether you celebrate it with family, friends, or some odd combination, it’s an important time that should encourage us to take a moment and reflect on all the things we’re thankful for.
Ironically, the day directly following Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, encourages the exact opposite. Instead, it inspires the accumulation of more “stuff” and “things” that we don’t really want or need anyway. Stores offer crazy discounts, and shoppers line up at their favorite emporium from the wee hours of the morning just to get the latest video game or TV screen half-priced before anyone else. What’s crazier is that people actually die in their pursuit of more, which should probably make us rethink some things about our attitudes surrounding the holiday season.
In short, more is not the answer, a thankful heart is.
In his first recorded letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul wrote about a plethora of things, but it’s during this time of the year that a specific verse (1 Thessalonians 5:18) stands out above the rest.
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you…
Pretty simple, isn’t it? The act of thanksgiving is so important that you could find dozens of verses just on that topic alone.
Of course, giving thanks in all circumstances doesn’t mean that we’re always thankful for our circumstances, but it means that we are thankful despite or in the midst of them. Paul continues this thought in 2 Corinthians 4:15-16…
All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
It’s here that we learn the true importance of thanksgiving. Not only does it bring glory to God, but it helps us to be inwardly renewed each and every day. When we are consistently thankful, the desire to compare our status to that of others and/or look for that “next big thing” begins to fade away.
The quick focus on Christmas as that “next big thing,” a season of gift-giving and receiving directly after Halloween, bypassing Thanksgiving entirely, probably says a lot more about our culture than most of us would care to admit.
Not to belabor a point, but being thankful seems to be a lost art to many of us here in the United States. We take just about everything for granted, feel entitled to this, that, and the other things, and we say “thank you” mostly out of obligation or for the sake of “good manners” instead of putting any meaning behind the words. That is, if we even say it at all. It’s no wonder that Thanksgiving is often overlooked. We want more. And since the Halloween candy wasn’t enough, it must be time for Christmas presents.
Admittedly, not everyone who is eager to celebrate the season of Advent is doing so out of some misguided desire for more. To say that would be disingenuous and crude. In fact, just the other day I desired it to be Christmastime just so that we could justify watching The Muppet Christmas Carol and celebrate the season with the Little Miss. There was no desire for “more” in me at that moment, just a desire to celebrate the season with my family.
But, you see the common threads, right? You see how the culture shifts from one holiday to another without hardly touching on the important, reflective time in the middle when you’re meant to be thankful and content? It’s tragic, and given that Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday, my wife and I fight hard to make November a time of thanksgiving, contentment, and reflection.
Here’s a challenge for you: every day this month, practice verbally thanking God for one single thing. Could be your health. Could be your family. Could be the amazing breakfast burrito you had this morning. It doesn’t matter what it is, just spend time giving genuine thanks for the blessings in your life. By the time Thanksgiving is actually here, you may find that you’re entire attitude toward the holiday has changed.
This Week’s Petty Pick
See How They Run is a murder mystery film inspired by Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, and it’s pretty great. Besides its stellar cast and clever plot, it’s just a fun whodunnit that takes a clever spin on Christie’s original story. Plus, Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan are the leads; it doesn’t get better than that.
We watched it last night on HBO Max (sadly, we missed it in theaters), though there are other venues where you can rent or purchase it. If you liked the recent Murder on the Orient Express or Knives Out movies (and their sequels), then you’ll love this one. Rest assured, it’s worth your time.