The roots of America’s Thanksgiving go back to the pilgrims. After a long hard winter during which more than half of the pilgrims died from scurvy and exposure to the elements, survivors held a feast of thanksgiving during which they shared their blessings with Indian friends.
They thanked God that enough of them survived to start a new life for themselves and their descendants. As the colonies grew more prosperous, however, people tended to forget about giving thanks. Thanksgiving was celebrated sporadically, if at all.
Sarah Hale was a plucky widow, mother of five children, and editor of a woman’s magazine. She also wrote the nursery rhyme, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” In 1822 she began a 40-year campaign of writing letters and editorials to governors and presidents, urging them to revive the celebration of Thanksgiving and restore it to its rightful place.
She finally succeeded when President Lincoln, who had little for which to be thankful during the bloody Civil War, issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation in 1864.
Norman Rockwell painting
Many Americans believe that Norman Rockwell expressed the spirit of thanksgiving in his famous painting entitled “Saying Grace.” This painting is a 1951 painting Norman Rockwell did, for the cover of The Saturday Evening Post’s November 24, 1951, Thanksgiving issue. The painting depicts a woman and a young boy saying grace in a crowded restaurant, as they are observed by others at their table and diner.
Its courageous quality is that the woman is not afraid of thanking God for the gift of food with the youth in the midst of strangers.
Norman Rockwell’s painting “Saying Grace” sold for $46 million, a record for the artist.
Sometimes we can be more thankful for what we have when we see what others do not have! An anonymous author wrote, “If you woke up this morning and could hear the birds singing, use your vocal cords to utter human sounds, walk to breakfast, and read newspapers with two good human eyes, you are more blessed than millions of people who cannot do such things.”
If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of temptation, the agony of torture, or the pangs of hunger, you are ahead of 500 million persons in today’s world. If you can attend a church service without fear of harassment, arrest, or torture, then you are more blessed than three billion people in the world. If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes to wear, a roof overhead, and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75 percent of the world.
Matthew 25: 31-46 shows us that we can thank God for our blessings by sharing them with others as the pilgrims did. Years ago, a salesman was reduced to living out of his car because he could not sell anything. He had nothing to eat for two days because he had no money to buy food. His growling stomach led him into a diner where he ordered a huge breakfast though he was broke.
As he devoured his breakfast, he wondered how he would pay for it. When the bill came, he told the waitress that he left his wallet in his car which was true, but he did not say there was no money in it.
The diner’s owner who looked like Hulk Hogan, the huge wrestler, had already sized him up and could see that he did not have any money.
He approached the table and bent down to apparently pick up something the salesman had dropped. Then he straightened up and scolded him, “Sir, it looks as if you dropped this $20 bill. You should be more careful with your money!”
He handed the salesman the $20 bill, winked, and fled into the kitchen and hid.
Thanks to the owner’s generosity, the salesman had enough money to pay for breakfast, buy gas, and five loaves of bread, and two pounds of butter. More importantly, he was so fired up that he sold more merchandise that day than he did the previous month. He never forgot his undeserved act of generosity and passed on that blessing by helping others in need!
Give thanks
At Thanksgiving, we can thank God for gifts of food, fellowship, and family. We can pray for starving people who would gladly devour our food scraps if they could. We can share our gifts with the needy by contributing to food pantries, sponsoring a third-world child, calling lonely persons, sharing meals with shut-ins, or in other ways.
We can thank God for eyes to see, ears to hear, hands to help, and feet to go the extra mile for others.
The Holy Spirit will show us other ways to be thankful for our blessings if we ask.
Since Eucharist means thanksgiving, perhaps we can resolve to participate in Mass on Thanksgiving Day. May we thank God for our blessings on Thanksgiving Day and every day. May our Thanksgiving Day be filled with food, fellowship, gratitude, and Eucharist.
Fr. Donald Lange is a pastor emeritus in the Diocese of Madison.