Many of us don’t waste much time moving from Thanksgiving to Black Friday. Stores open their doors late on Thursday before the leftovers are put away, the tables are cleared, the dishes are washed and dried, and guests are out the door. It sometimes seems as though we need to rush past the moment of gratitude for what we’ve been given to focus on accumulating more.
For me, Thanksgiving should be a comforting celebration. It doesn’t have the complications of Christmas. It focuses on gathering around a table of plenty—almost Eucharistic, in a way. We gather in twos, threes, tens or twenties knowing we’re imperfect, yet we gather, nonetheless. At our best we reflect on what little we’ve done to deserve such graciousness, yet here it is before us. Blessed indeed.
First, though, we need to see what is before us. Gratitude wells up in us only when we recognize the gift. It might be the birth of child or grandchild. It might be that finally we can come together safely and vaccinated to share space and a meal. It might be one of us has returned to health or maybe we acknowledge and celebrate a life well lived.
Thanksgiving should be a daily celebration. The extravagant feast is not repeated each day, but a moment to notice what is given to us each day can be repeated every day. But like today’s Black Friday, as long as we’re focused on what we don’t have, we’ll find it hard to relish all that we already have—which is simply this: “You are my beloved. In you, I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11, Matthew 3:17, Luke 3:22)
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