11/26/2020
On Thanksgiving Day, in years past, I would find myself at morning Mass, contemplating my thankfulness for the blessings of God. In particular the gift of Himself in the Bread and the Wine, but also all the broader and more common blessings I have all too often taken for granted throughout the year. Then I would find my way home and with family and friends immerse myself in the joys that God has allowed me to walk in. On this Thanksgiving Day I find myself in a basement room ruminating on the Drought of the Word of God that we as a society are living through. Thanks to the pandemic, there are no services available where I live.
It is Thanksgiving Day in America. As has been usual in past years we have been bombarded by many lies, much nonsense and even more distractions. There is the misplaced pride in the arguments over who started Thanksgiving, the pilgrims, the Spaniards, President Washington, etc. Then there are those who would have us descend into misplaced anger and desire for vengeance as they focus on the interactions of European settlers and the indigenous population.
Stop it. Please. Only one thing is important. Only one thing is necessary. To raise our eyes to the fact that is God, and wonder at all that has been provided for us.
Despite what is said on TV and the internet Thanksgiving is not a peculiarly American Holiday. When the people of God came out of captivity in Egypt God, through Moses, revealed to them how they should live. There is much talk about what food to eat, what clothes to wear, how to keep the Sabbath and so on. There is also the command to eat a Thanksgiving meal.
In Deuteronomy 14, starting at the 22 verse, the people are instructed to take a tithe of the “yield of their fields”, and take it to the place that God will choose and then they shall eat it there. The section goes on to say that if the place chosen by god is too far they the people can convert their goods to money. They are then to take their money to the place designated and convert it back to food. “26 and spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household.” There are more verses about caring for the Levites, the sojourners and the widows.
The ancient idea of tithes was more complex and more nuanced than the average Pastor cares to delve into during pledge season. Some of the details have been lost in time. But here in Deuteronomy 14 is a command to take some of the harvest to God, and engage in a meal of Rejoicing.
God wants His people to have a harvest festival where they remember God, rejoice in what has been provided, and share it in a meal. This basic, God given concept, has undergone many permutations. Before the pilgrims came to the Americas the English had goose day. (Called Michaelmas or St. Michael’s day, until England broke with Rome,) The English would feast on a goose, which they fed on the stubble from the fields after the harvest. One of the many customs that went along with the goose was to eat a specially baked loaf of bread made in a round shape. The feast was to give thanks for a good harvest and pray for a good year to come.
After the Pilgrims first difficult winter they finally had a good harvest. Domestic geese were hard to find and so wild turkeys were substituted. It is clear from what little records exist that it was a harvest feast to give thanks to God. Much like Deuteronomy 14. When the native population showed up the pilgrims, like their spiritual ancestors before them, shared.
Although there is pressure to take God out of Thanksgiving and turn it into a purely secular festival, it is still a biblically based harvest meal of thanksgiving. It is still held at the approximate end of the harvest. For the most part people still celebrate with a bird. Nowadays instead of having a specially baked loaf of bread we have stuffing. People still gather friends and family to share their “harvest”. People still “bring their harvest before the Lord”. Only now we do it in prayer. Many People still think of the poor and less fortunate at thanksgiving: giving donations, time and talent to food pantries and serving community meals throughout America.
Although this thanksgiving we are mostly cut off from the community of God and at times cut off from the Eucharist we can still pause to ponder the wonders of God’s love. The wonders of God’s love in the blessings of this life; family, friends, food. Whether rich or poor, eating turkey, ham or vegan, with many people or alone with God, let us count our blessings and be thankful. Let us put off the rancor of our daily civil unrest, and just think of the good and the excellent.
Today is Thanksgiving Day let us give thanks, rejoice and eat before the Lord our God.
William Beau Wagner+
