by Bishop Bill Gohl
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It’s not about the food (which I love), nor even is it about family coming together (which I love even more), I simply love the gift of a day set apart for thanks-giving.
I grew up with rich Thanksgiving traditions. As a family, we often had pizza on Thanksgiving Eve with a trip to church for worship that evening. My mom started and sustained a tradition of baking small loaves of bread to give out at church, a small sign of thanks-giving shared at Thanksgiving tables, from the Lord’s table into the diaspora of God’s people. Lusty hymn-singing: Come Ye Thankful People, Come; We Gather Together; Before You Lord, We Bow; and Now Thank We All Our God were the spiritual prelude for food, family and football!
My own traditions have changed through the years. In the years I’ve been a pastor of the church, I’ve always served congregations that have had Thanksgiving Day services. There is something especially beautiful about starting the day at the heart of Thanksgiving; for a “day of thanksgiving” was not marked by feasting, family, and fellowship — the happy hallmarks of the holiday we now celebrate. It was a different matter altogether. A “thanksgiving day” was set aside for prayer and worship.
My wife’s father’s family traces its lineage back to John and Pricilla Alden coming to the United States by way of the Mayflower and Plymouth; in fact, one of the family traditions we have is that over the Thanksgiving weekend, we make a “pilgrimage” to Plymouth (and its replica Mayflower and fake rock!) as part of remembering with our children that Thanksgiving is more than food, family and football.
The Pilgrims brought with them the religious custom of marking days of thanksgiving. Days of thanksgiving were called in response to specific providence such as a rich harvest, good weather, or a military victory. From the Pilgrims’ perspective, their First Thanksgiving in the New World didn’t take place until 1623, two years after they and the Wampanoag native peoples sat down together at the now-famous feast. The occasion was a rainfall that saved their harvest — and their lives.
This Thanksgiving, I will feast and worship with the community at St. Paul/Breath of God in Highlandtown on Wednesday evening. I will help with a community meal where I will find holy satisfaction in my providing for others, even as the community provides a meal for me, too. On Thanksgiving morning, I will preach and preside at Epiphany, Baltimore and Jerusalem, Belair Road, just as I have done for the last nine Thanksgiving mornings. On both Thanksgiving Eve and Thanksgiving morning, I expect to be with fairly good crowds of people in worship – not because they “have to” (like Christmas, Easter and Mother’s Day!), but because, like me, there’s simply joy in setting apart some part of the holiday to be with the community of faith to do what Christians do at “our family dinner table”: thanks-giving.
Then, I will make my journey to Massachusetts to be with my wife, children and in-laws for food, family – and an annual pilgrimage to Plymouth!
I wish you and yours a blessed Thanksgiving. I hope you will be blessed to feed and be fed – in faith, hope and love, together in Christ.
My wife’s father’s family traces its lineage back to John and Pricilla Alden coming to the United States by way of the Mayflower and Plymouth; in fact, one of the family traditions we have is that over the Thanksgiving weekend, we make a “pilgrimage” to Plymouth (and its replica Mayflower and fake rock!) as part of remembering with our children that Thanksgiving is more than food, family and football.
The Pilgrims brought with them the religious custom of marking days of thanksgiving. Days of thanksgiving were called in response to specific providence such as a rich harvest, good weather, or a military victory. From the Pilgrims’ perspective, their First Thanksgiving in the New World didn’t take place until 1623, two years after they and the Wampanoag native peoples sat down together at the now-famous feast. The occasion was a rainfall that saved their harvest — and their lives.
This Thanksgiving, I will feast and worship with the community at St. Paul/Breath of God in Highlandtown on Wednesday evening. I will help with a community meal where I will find holy satisfaction in my providing for others, even as the community provides a meal for me, too. On Thanksgiving morning, I will preach and preside at Epiphany, Baltimore and Jerusalem, Belair Road, just as I have done for the last nine Thanksgiving mornings. On both Thanksgiving Eve and Thanksgiving morning, I expect to be with fairly good crowds of people in worship – not because they “have to” (like Christmas, Easter and Mother’s Day!), but because, like me, there’s simply joy in setting apart some part of the holiday to be with the community of faith to do what Christians do at “our family dinner table”: thanks-giving.
Then, I will make my journey to Massachusetts to be with my wife, children and in-laws for food, family – and an annual pilgrimage to Plymouth!
I wish you and yours a blessed Thanksgiving. I hope you will be blessed to feed and be fed – in faith, hope and love, together in Christ.