Do you remember when each holiday had its place, and stores and commercials focused on that holiday in their displays and items for sale? Then you must be nearly as old as I am.

This year, on the day after Halloween, Walmart had its large Christmas section open and fully stocked. Same with Home Depot and, most likely, it was the same in every other store.

And for those of us who enjoy home entertainment, here we are, barely after Halloween and closing in on Thanksgiving, and all we see, when we’re not zipping through them on recorded shows, are CHRISTMAS commercials. Of course, we’re bingeing on Hallmark and other channels showing Christmas romances, so what can we expect? They make for a nice distraction from the rest of 2020 madness.

Perhaps the intent is for us to forget Thanksgiving, or at least diminish it somewhat in order to discourage our getting together for a large family meal. I get that. Turkey wouldn’t taste the same when you’re watching someone else eat it on Zoom. I know. We attended a Zoom birthday party, and the cake tasted like air.

So, do we ignore Thanksgiving? My answer is a resounding NO! However we choose to celebrate it, we must. What do we have to be thankful for, especially in this crazy pandemic year? Perhaps this excerpt from Reflections of a Misfit will put it into perspective for you. 

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Thankful for Manifold Blessings

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. My heart is full of gratitude. I wouldn’t know where to begin, so I’ll share someone else’s thoughts, instead.

On November 4, 1963, President Kennedy issued his annual Thanksgiving Proclamation. He died eighteen days later–six days before Thanksgiving. That year, President Johnson urged all the nation’s churches to share Kennedy’s words in their Thanksgiving services. Here is an excerpt. 

“Let us therefore proclaim our gratitude to Providence for mani- fold blessings–let us be humbly thankful for inherited ideals–and let us resolve to share those blessings and those ideals with our fellow human beings throughout the world.” 

“On that day, let us gather in our sanctuaries dedicated to worship and in homes blessed by family affection to express our gratitude for the glorious gifts of God; and let us earnestly and humbly pray that He will continue to guide and sustain us in the great unfinished tasks of achieving peace, justice, and understanding among all men and nations and of ending misery and suffering wherever they exist.” 

Amen. Let our gratitude become love in action. Happy Thanksgiving!

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