Here we are four days away from Thanksgiving and it seems like it’s already over and in the books. My inbox and various print ads are already touting the early Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales and I admit that I am having a bit of trouble with all of it.
Before we even had Halloween, Christmas displays were up in stores and while part of me understands the desire to get a quick jump on decorating and Christmas shopping, I just can’t get on the bus of skipping Thanksgiving. In fact, I’m sure that some of the Christmas hype is founded on the premise that we don’t buy tons of gifts for each other to celebrate Turkey Day.
When Janet and I grew up, Thanksgiving Day was exactly that – a day to be grateful and appreciative of the things that we had been blessed with the previous year. Before the meal, as we were all seated, grace was longer than usual and more specific things were mentioned – rather than the typical, “God is great, God is good, Let us thank Him for our food…Amen!”
Sure, there were football games and great desserts, but we weren’t talking about getting to bed early to catch the sales, or even worse, to go shopping after dinner – sometimes delaying dessert so that people could head out and hit the really early sales…
My maternal grandfather, the patriarch of the family, and my grandmother would talk specifically about things that had happened during the prior year – particularly mentioning those dearly departed who had left us since our last Thanksgiving meal. We were constantly learning about the history of the family – a tradition that I continue to this day with our own children and grandchildren.
In our family, we had dinner with our grandparents each Sunday evening – we didn’t miss. And so it was on all the major holidays as well. We were used to being together and we lived life together as a family. Janet was raised much the same way.
Many of those old time values seem to be lost these days. We are all in such a hurry to get things done and I can’t help but think that we wish our lives away, always anxious to get on the next thing.
And let’s not forget that while we set aside a day to give thanks for the blessings that we have received, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are right around the corner. The news will focus on the crowds, the popular holiday gifts and the fights that broke out while people wrestled with one another over limited quantities of the latest and greatest gifts. It doesn’t sound like being thankful to me…
Janet and I have made one concession to getting older after so many years together. When we were younger, we waited until the day after Thanksgiving to start Christmas decorations. We realize that we aren’t as strong or have as much stamina as we did years ago and so we will start to decorate non-public parts of the house before Thanksgiving is over. However, in no way does this denigrate our celebration of giving thanks to God for the blessings we have had throughout the year. We never let Thanksgiving pass without celebration…
And we still have Thanksgiving decorations up until we officially start the Christmas season – the day AFTER Thanksgiving…. unlike so many others we know. Our verse for tonight comes from the psalms. The psalms are a collection of songs, prayers, laments and thanksgiving writings that are some of the most emotional literature in Scripture.
The psalmist tells us, in Psalm 107:8-9, “Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.” My encouragement this evening is that we should all STOP and enjoy a day of thanks to God for His provision, our families, friends and anything else that we can even remotely be thankful for – God is good – all the time. My prayer is that we will not feel the need to rush through the day to grab great deals and that we can all bask in the love of God and the families that we celebrate with. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…