Put the Thanks Back into Thanksgiving

Put the Thanks Back into Thanksgiving 

By  Tom Hendrickson P.G.M.

To me Thanksgiving has been lost between Halloween and Christmas and has become a forgotten holiday. I went into a store just before Labor Day and all the Halloween decorations, candy and costumes were out on display. Then a few weeks later when I went back to purchase Halloween candy, the Christmas decorations, lights, and artificial trees were on sale!

I know that it is hard to believe, but from the time the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock and for three and half centuries, friends and families gathered together sharing the bounty of their efforts and spending time together strengthening our spiritual bonds. Together they took time to recognize and thank God for the blessings in their lives. Then somewhere in time Thanksgiving was hijacked and turned into just a day of football and shopping.

Thanksgiving has been reduced to just become a spring board for the Christmas shopping season. November 23^rd is a day spent looking thru the store advertising and preparing for that strategic shopping adventure, with many of the stores opening on Thanksgiving evening for the pre-Black Friday shopping. Of course, before the shopping there is the big meal and plenty of football to be consumed.

To me Thanksgiving should celebrate the ideals which makes our country flourish, religious and personal freedom, family values, shared prosperity, stability, bounty, safe harbor and most important 

is gratitude to God for all our blessings.

Thanksgiving should be a day when we share a meal with our loved ones that nourishes our bodies. We spend time together strengthening our spiritual bonds and together we are thankful for God’s presence and blessing in our daily lives

Now, not every Thanksgiving has been over the river and thru the woods to Grandma’s house. Some of us ate Thanksgiving dinner from a Mermite food container dropped out of a chopper at a Firebase overseas. Some of us ate crackers at a hospital while a loved one was in Intensive Care, or we ate at a Police Station, at a Truck Stop or at the Salvation Army.

Sometimes we must look beyond our daily struggles and examine our lives to count and focus on our blessings. This lesson was driven home hard for me one day just recently. I was at a local restaurant and at the table next to mine was a young man in a wheel chair. He had lost both legs and his right arm as a Marine in Iraq. We had a nice talk then he said something that moves me to this day. He said that he was really thankful that he still had his eyesight and he thanks God every day he is still alive.

We look to the Bible and King David wrote in Psalms 100:4(NIV) Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. And Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:20 (NIV) Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As men of faith and as Sir Knights we should remember that the spirit of Thanksgiving should be present with us each and every day. Let us all remember the spirit of Thanksgiving and make our prayers and thanks be heartfelt every day.  

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgivings to you all. If you have a few moments please read on.

This was painted by one of my favorite artists Norman Rockwell. I grew up seeing his art on Calendars, magazines and all types of memorialbilia. I have recently have been learning so much more about how great of an American artist he truely was.

Norman Rockwell heard President Franklin D Roosevelt speech to congress on January 6, 1941

. He was so moved and inspired that he created a series of four painting called The Four Freedoms. This painting of a multi generational family gathered at the table. They are together, happy and about to enjoy a feast. They are living in the moment .They are unencumbered by want or fear.

Just a little time before this picture was painted our country was in the deep depths of the great depression and europe was at war and we were just months from the attack on Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt said" True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. "Necessitous men are not free men. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff dictators are made of."

Norman Rockwell painted this idealistic hopful picture when the past was dark and the future looked even darker. This painting is the third of a series of four paintings and its called "Freedom of Want."

For a outstanding study guide of the Four freedoms I suggest you click here and read the four part series by Mary Lea-Cox of the Carnegie Council. I have it arranged so it starts with Freedom of Want a Study guide to the Four Freedoms"

I hope during this time of Thanksgiving that you are healthly and have safe travels and most importantly a joyful feast and Freedom from Want.