How The Thieves Stole Thanksgiving
As we find ourselves swiftly approaching the Thanksgiving Holiday, I believe that it is very necessary that we do some soul searching and give some serious consideration as to why we have allowed this uniquely American holiday to be overshadowed and trivialized. To my recollection of the sequential events that helped to shape the history and destiny of America, the Thanksgiving story preceded the events that gave place to the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and all other holidays that are uniquely American. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “It originated in the autumn of 1621 when Massachusetts Bay Governor, William Bradford, invited neighboring Indians to join the Pilgrims for a three-day festival of recreation and feasting in gratitude for the bounty of the season. By the end of the 19th Century, Thanksgiving Day had become an institution throughout New England and was officially proclaimed as a national holiday by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863.” Regrettably, over the past few decades, we have allowed some practices and pursuits to diminishing this most venerable of all American holidays. There are three in particular that I have come to believe are the thieves that are stealing Thanksgiving away from us in broad daylight. I will present them to you in the “thieving” order that they fall.
Commercialism
Unquestionably, due to the fact that Thanksgiving falls approximately one month before Christmas, the number one thief that has stolen and greatly diminished the importance and true meaning of this uniquely American holiday is commercialism. It has been swallowed up by the early advertising of this time of the year when merchants do forty percent of their sales. It is ironic and very disrespectful to the Lord that we have become so materialistic and inundated with a desire for stuff that we have desecrated both of these sacred seasons. Do not misunderstand me here. I am not saying that it is wrong to sell and to buy during the Christmas season. Thank God for the business it generates and the part-time jobs that it affords many who so badly need them. What I am adamant about is the disrespect and disregard for the true meaning of the season. How dare we utilize the approaching observance of the Lord’s natural birthday in a commercialistic campaign of advertisement that downplays and denigrates the day we have set aside as a nation to give thanks to Him. Little wonder why we are experiencing moral decay as a nation. Have we made materialism our God?
Feasting Without True Thanksgiving
This second thief that is a part of the trio that has been working for many decades to trivialize and to commercialize the Thanksgiving holiday is the practice of feasting without giving true thanks. Right here, I need to make a distinction between saying grace or a short prayer of thanksgiving at meals (which far too many have abandoned) and the observance of the Holiday. I am of the opinion that if we are going to recapture and preserve the practice of observing this important and uniquely American holiday as the settlers did, we must put forth a greater effort of giving thanks and for sharing the historical story. Notice that I continue to say we, because to be perfectly honest, I have allowed myself to slip in this area as well. Let’s fight to put this holiday back in the order and importance of why it was originated by the early settlers and legally designated by, arguably, our greatest president as a national holiday.
Football, Football, and More Football
This third and final thief that has been a part of the overshadowing and diminishing of the true observance of the traditional Thanksgiving holiday is professional football. Eighty years ago, way back in 1934, George A. Richards purchased a professional football franchise called the Ohio Spartans. He moved the team to Detroit Michigan and renamed them the Detroit Lions. That same year, they hosted the World Champion Chicago Bears in what would become a Thanksgiving Day classic and tradition. The Lions would thereafter host a Thanksgiving game. The Dallas Cowboys would also host a game on Thanksgiving Day many years later. Again, I must confess that due to the fact that I come from a family and string of brothers who were football fanatics and who played the game in high school, my involvement with football from an early age predisposed me to contract the football fever. So I am not casting a stone at you. I am merely saying that we need to bring back the true observance of Thanksgiving. I believe that there is room for being excited about the near arrival of Christmas during the Thanksgiving holiday, as well as feasting, and of course, enjoying the football games. However, let us not allow these things to steal, to stifle, or to suppress our gratitude to God on this special day that has been historically and legally designated to honor and give thanks unto Him who has been so good to us.
