Thanksgiving

BALTIMORE, Maryland November 28, 2013 - It is a day, if not unique to these United States and our northern neighbor, Canada, then certainly one best known for its founding here. It is a day set aside at the tail end of the harvest season to give thanks to the Almighty for the bounty bestowed upon us.  In the United States it is the fourth Thursday in November.  In Canada it is the second Monday in October.  In the United States it is one of the three holidays that compose the so-called holiday season.  The "First Thanksgiving" was observed in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1521.  At the end of the harvest, 90 American Indians and 53 Pilgrims came together for a three-day feast thanking the Almighty for the bountiful harvest.  In the church I attend the Pastor, at the outset of the service last night and again this morning, asked worshipers to break off into small groups and there to pray about and discuss the things each person was thankful for.  The session lasted about two minutes.  Again, after the sermon he did the same thing, and after another couple of minutes he invited anyone who cared to, to come forward and tell the congregation about  the things they were thankful for.  Upon such an invitation, two (this morning) or four (last night) folk did come forward and recite things they were thankful for.  Each person coming forward was thankful for three things: the church, the pastor, and their family.  Some recited unexpected medical recoveries.  Some pointed out individual members who helped them through hard times.  The pastor was named because he is new and, in the tradition and protocol of the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church, our congregation "called" him after being provided a list of pastors said to be willing to consider a call.  For churches without a full time pastor, the process can easily be discouraging.  Sundays are covered by guest preachers.  But in general, the time a church does not have a pastor is a time of wasting away, both in number of members and in the energy expended by members who remain.  Therefore, the news that our new pastor had accepted the "call," was met with all-around joy.
       The sermon concentrated on the many and countless blessings we have all received.  Often we concentrate on what we don't have or what we really really want, instead of all that we have.  Many of us are out of work.  Some of us are ill.  Some of us have lost loved ones.  Some of us are involved in bad domestic situations.  And to be sure each of these things are serious.  And they must be addressed.  Thanksgiving, however, is a day that compels us to recall the things we are thankful for.  Out of work? You have a family that loves you still and always will.  Ill?  Again, a family is by your side, caring for you.  People still love you.  If a spouse or parent has died, you have those many years with that person to be thankful for.  You have the survivors in the family - they are probably many in number - still there for you.  In a bad marraige?  You have children and parents to be thankful for.  You have your job or your school.
       The late great Thornton Wilder wrote a short, almost sweet play called "Our Town".  In the play, most of which, as I recall, takes place in a graveyard, the dead discuss life in the adjacent small town.  The subject they discuss, mostly, is how much time the living waste.  One or more would give almost anything for even one hour in the arms of someone they loved when they were alive.  The dead cringe when they see people they know love each other, instead involving themselves in petty arguments and other mean-spirited activities.   If, indeed, you have lost someone whom you love, you know what the play is about.  Many go through their lives just hoping to get it over with.  Many go through their lives longing for more money or more material wealth.  Others live for that promotion, that new job or that new home or whatever.  I do not say any of these are worthless endeavors.  But how much time do we waste in all-out pursuit of such things while ignoring or trampling on people we need to love.  "Our Town" is, in the end, a play about the old adage, 'life is too short.'