"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (I Thessalonians 5:18)
Yes, the inspiration for my title was John Lennon's "And So This is Christmas"! It might surprise some of you that I really like that song. I guess if I tried I could write a similar song about Thanksgiving Day, but I'm not going to try that right now! My favorite two American holidays are Independence Day and Thanksgiving Day. I feel bad that Thanksgiving Day seems to be less and less important each year. My birthday is in September and I guess even in September these days Christmas decorations are out! Thanksgiving Day has been turned into a little prelude for Christmas. It's too bad. When I was a kid November meant Thanksgiving and December meant Christmas. It should still be that way. I guess this is a bit "off topic" but each year around this time there are plenty of displays of photos featuring Dallas, Texas taken on November 22, 1963. Have you ever noticed that there are no Christmas decorations or Merry Christmas signs anywhere in those photos? That's because Christmas in those days got very little mention before Thanksgiving Day.
My first memory of Thanksgiving must be from 1958. Our family moved from inner city Boston to the suburban community of Canton in December of that year. My parents had one of those 1950s General Electric portable "Roaster" ovens. In that oven they cooked a turkey. I can still see the "Roaster" and the turkey at the "old" house and I remember my parents telling me it was a very special day. When we were kids we'd have relatives over for Thanksgiving. My father was very "macho" and very much an authority figure; but when the relatives were over, he was a bit nervous and I always got a kick out of that! In 1972, my mother was in the hospital undergoing an operation during the Thanksgiving week. My father was no "Galloping Gourmet" but he insisted on cooking a turkey for we three "kids" who were in our mid and late teens at that point. My father in an apron cooking a meal frankly looked ridiculous! I know I struggled to maintain my composure. I'm sure my siblings did too! After dinner we went to visit my mother in the hospital. I don't know why we didn't just go out to a restaurant!
I spent a couple of Thanksgiving Days in Springfield, Missouri during my time at Central Bible College. One year we were invited to Pastor Wartenbee's house. I remember his wife offering us "cold peas and cheese" as an appetizer. And I still recall my friend James Rayburn from Georgia looking horrified at the thought of cold peas and cheese! I think I made some excuse, myself! Just recently I was reading that cold peas and cheese is a popular holiday appetizer in much of the midwest - I think especially from families of Germanic origin. So now that kind of makes sense!
My favorite part of the Thanksgiving dinner was always the stuffing. I'm French Canadian. French Canadian stuffing is primarily meat stuffing. There are various ways to make it. Most people do include the traditional bread stuffing mixes you can buy at the supermarket, but to that you add ground beef and ground mild sausage as well as chopped up celery and sometimes even a little bit of mashed potatoes into the stuffing. It's really good!
I don't even have time to write about all the school football games I've attended on Thanksgiving Days! No I never played football - I'd have been killed! But I was in the high school band and we went to all the games. And when my kids were at Marian High School we attended their Thanksgiving games! I guess I'm making the mistake here a lot of Americans make: I'm talking about food and football but nothing about God or being thankful! It really is so important to be thankful! Did you know Americans by nature are not thankful? That was stated by a guest preacher I heard a number of years ago, and I think it's true. I want to remember to be thankful this year!
I'm thankful for the memories I've shared today. They're good memories. I'm thankful that at seventy-one I'm alive and reasonably healthy. I'm thankful for my wife Mary Ann. I'm not always the easiest person to deal with or to please. I'm grateful she forgives and loves me. I'm thankful for my three grown children. All three are committed Christians. Mary Ann has sometimes lamented that we didn't shield our kids from a lot of things they really shouldn't have been exposed to. It's true, and I have to take the blame for that. And, yet, in spite of that, they're committed Christians and truly outstanding people.
I'm grateful for the church we attend: Bread of Life Church in Westminster, Mass. Yeah, I guess we get the long distance award as it's more than fifty miles each way on Sunday mornings. But it's really a wonderful church family and very special to be part of it. Like George Bailey, I'm also rich in friends. I'm a very quirky person and a little odd at times. Really! I once told clergy colleague Dick Germaine that I was "a weirdo"! Dick got really upset with me for calling myself a weirdo! So, instead I'm saying I'm quirky and odd! And yet this quirky and odd guy really has a lot of good friends that I frankly don't deserve!
I guess counting 1954, tomorrow will be my 72nd Thanksgiving Day. I'm looking forward to it! I most of all thank God for His free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, and I thank God for all the "stuff" I'm mentioning here!
