Thanksgiving First-Lest We Lose the Meaning of Christmas

           Somewhere on the celebration of All Saint’s Day (November 1), the seasons wax and wane. Christmas rises and Halloween descends. Tucked in between is Thanksgiving. It is a National holiday parked between the two religious holidays (that some would argue celebrate ‘opposing’ sides).

          I was moved to this when Lynn, my beloved wife, shared a hysterical video clip that showed Thanksgiving as the poor relations among the holidays getting ready to go for the fall (unlike Halloween and Christmas, it does not even have its own sports coat).

          And while Thanksgiving may not carry the pomp and circumstance of the fall and winter holidays, it is critically important to Christmas.  In the words of one of the great mystics of the Christmas canon of the silver screen, “there's a lot of bad 'isms' floatin' around this world, but one of the worst is commercialism. Make a buck, make a buck.”

          As a Christian cleric, it continues to concern me that the star at its rising (the star in the East) is always in danger of paling before the glow of extended shopping hours. And while it is my delight to invite anyone come worship with us at Christmas (in vr or rr-vitual reality or real-reality), there is a bigger promise at stake for this world so much in need.

The promise in Luke goes something like, ‘peace on earth, goodwill to all humanity’ (the translation has some latitude for interpretation). There is an added bit about it being reserved for those whom God favors. In my faith, we are all God’s children, therefore God’s favor rests upon us all. In my experience, ‘making the buck’ can drown out all other voices but its own.

Thus the renewed necessity of front-loading Christmas with Thanksgiving. At the front end, if we infuse Thanksgiving for all that we have, for all that we can offer, for all that we will receive, and all that we will experience, I believe we dance in the winter wonderland more often than dragging through the commercial crawl.

Does music move your soul? For me, the opening of Christmas comes after giving thanks. But for those whom music is a special blessing, how about a soft opening to the Season? Search “Count Your Blessings-White Christmas” on Youtube. It is not a bad anthem for giving thanks.

Rev. Peter Hofstra