Thanksgiving

We all know what Thanksgiving is. It is a time for families to join together around one dinner table and share a feast fixed by several members of each branch of the family. The final outcome is shared by all, maybe not loved by all, I still cannot get used to okra or Brussel sprouts, but I have learned to love various forms of squash.

However, what I really enjoy is the repartee between the family members, both good and bad. We don’t always get along, and there are harsh words that are shared, but when we sit down for dinner, and the prayer is said, conversation is blessed and harsh words are forgotten, or at lest laid aside until after the football games are over late at night.

As this Thanksgiving 2023 is rapidly approaching I am reflecting on a very rough year I have had leading me to this year at Thanksgiving. Not all my family will be together. Part of the family will be on the west coast with another part in the Southwest; separate but never forgotten. We will be joined by our Northeastern faction and our Southeastern factions making a large group from me in at 80 to pre-teens.

Our political views differ greatly, but what is even more important is that our football rivalries are even stronger and much more argumentative. There will be fireworks regardless of who is playing on Thanksgiving day. Beer and wine will flow freely.

Being the old man in the group, and being the poet in the group, I am lucky enough to say the prayers for all the meals. I always try to write new ones each year. I am beginning to compose those for this year today November 1^st.

My heart is lifted by the joy of family surrounded by love sharing stories of life lived since last time seen. Age matters not for God is present in the center of the room passing messages filled with love from one generation to another. The lives shared in the jargons used are appreciated by all because all feel God’s hand pulling us closer together in His grace and passion.

Four Hundred years ago, God brought two different cultures together for the first Thanksgiving. I am so thankful that He can bring our family together this year to share a meal in His love and grace as mankind did so long ago.