Nun Danket Alle Gott

What music I am listening to: “La Boheme.” And not that crappy Baz Luhrman “La Boheme Gone Broadway" bullshit. I’m talking the real, Pavarotti-loving, Mirella Freni-singing opera by Giacomo Puccini.

“Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done, In whom this world rejoices;
Who, from our mothers’ arms, Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, And still is ours today."

I love Thanksgiving. Forgive me for sounding like a lost citizen from Mayberry, but there’s something about turkey, dressing, and Grandma’s spinach casserole that makes a gal down-right thankful.

Thanksgiving may be the last holiday unadulterated by crass-consumerism, which is why it has my vote as “favorite holiday.” Thanksgiving is a simple, almost Zen-like holiday. No, or very few cards, are purchased or exchanged. No presents to buy. No Thanksgiving-novelty tunes, except for the annual playing of Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant” on my family’s record player. Thanksgiving seems to creep up somewhere between Halloween and Christmas, lacking fanfare or rigmarole. Without weeks of build-up and anticipation, Thanksgiving has very little denouement and our eyes turn immediately to Christmas.

The other reason I am enamored with this holiday is that Thanksgiving effuses optimism. For a single day, we are called to remember the blessings bestowed upon us by our benevolent God. Ideally, everyday should be a Thanksgiving day but I will admit freely that I am rarely cognizant of the blessings in my life. I tend to bitch—a LOT. I bitch about not being pretty enough, thin enough, being single, not having enough money, etc. When all is said and done, what do I have to bitch about? I live in a country where I, a woman, can pursue higher education. And what’s more, I am member of a denomination that supports female ordination. I have a roof over my head, food to eat, and friends and family to love. Thanksgiving reminds us that, “hey, maybe things aren’t so bad after all.”

Food is very much synonymous with love and this belief is not exclusive to American culture. Human beings have been gathering around tables for food and fellowship since our evolution from apes (or since Adam and Eve, depending on your beliefs). In Judeo-Christian traditions, the table is very much a symbol of community with others as well as community with God. Jews celebrate a Passover seder to commemorate God’s deliverance of the Hebrews from slavery. Christians celebrate the Eucharist (Lord’s Supper/Holy Communion) to commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus Christ. Thanksgiving commemorates the “ties that bind our hearts in human love.” We gather around food, give thanks for blessings, and by sharing the food, symbolically share our blessings with each other.

As we brace ourselves for the frenetic pace of the Holiday Season, let us not forget the simplistic meaning of Thanksgiving. Let us count blessings, give thanks, give hugs and words of kind reassurance. The world may be cruel, but that does not mean that we should become purveyors of its cruelty.