It’s Thanksgiving time in Canada.
Not that every day shouldn’t be a cause for giving thanks, but this is our yearly reminder. So don’t let it go by as just a one off. Even in a world like today, there’s something to be thankful for each day. There is.
It’s harvest time, so maybe there’s a good place to start. Thanks for the land, for the food it provides, the farmers who do all the hard work, the truck drivers, processors, grocers - everyone that brings that to our tables.
There’s time to remember both those things amongst all the traditions and rituals we might have for this holiday. Yes, “rituals” too. After all, the word holiday comes from the old English meaning holy day.
In Deuteronomy, the Hebrew people are told that, when they come into the promised land, there’s a ritual of thanksgiving to observe. It’s not about turkey or pumpkin pies or football games, though there’s something of a family celebration in it all. They’re told to take the first fruits of the harvest and present it to God as thanks for the land they now live on.
But there’s more. They are to recite the story of how they come to be there. “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor,” it begins. It tells how they found themselves in Egypt, a small number of aliens there who grew into a great number, enslaved by the Egyptians and treated harshly, how God heard their cries for help and brought them out of Egypt with power and signs and wonders, and brought them here, to the promised land. So it’s not just a thanksgiving for harvest, but for all that has brought them to where they are today, all that is around them, all that God has done for them.
There’s still more, though. It’s then that they get to celebrate. After thanking God for the harvest, the harvest they have because God has brought them to this land, they get to celebrate: “Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.” Levites are descendants of the tribe of Levi who perform religious functions in the temple. They’re the leaders of the ritual so they get in on the party, too. And so do the aliens who reside among you.”
Yes, you have to celebrate with the people who aren’t your people. You were once an alien, too, and you need to welcome them and celebrate with them.
This could be a Thanksgiving dinner today. However you know God, first offer thanks for all the earth has offered in order that you are fed and nurtured. Offer thanks for more than that, though. Offer thanks for the good that has brought you here. The little things, the big things, the simple and the complicated, the challenges and the opportunities. They’re there, you might need to think a bit these days (it’s worth it). Then celebrate that gratitude and its benefits by sharing it with others, especially those who are an “alien” to you and your land. God doesn’t call us to exclude or dismiss, but to include and welcome. We should be thankful for that, too.
