The Disintegration of Thanksgiving
Why has Thanksgiving lost its meaning?
Thanksgiving has always been my favorite American holiday. There are a lot of reasons for this.
For one thing it is the grand finale of my favorite season. Thanksgiving says "goodbye Fall, hello Winter" similar to how Labor day says "goodbye Summer, hello Fall". Most homes have been decorated with Fall decorations that will soon vanish like the leaves on the trees. They are decorated in the warm and vibrant colors of fall foliage as well as many emblems of fall like scarecrows and pumpkins. Then all of the splendor of fall is crowned with decorations of Pilgrims, Indians, and turkeys for Thanksgiving day.
Then there is the feasting on turkey and sundry other items. It reminds us of how the Pilgrims and Indians gathered together in feast to share in the bounty that their mutually beneficial friendship had produced. It is a perfect picture of peace and prosperity that came from love. In the same way, family members would put aside all ill feelings and unkind remarks for a day of feasting in the home of the family matriarch. There was always more food than people could eat and families reminisced about shared experiences growing up that still bound them together.
Of course, what is feasting without family? Thanksgiving was often the one day a year when everyone in a large family like that of my Grandma Remington (9 kids, 43 grandkids) would somehow manage to all meet at her house. The floors at night were covered with wall to wall with people sleeping. Sometimes, some of us would just sleep in tents or a camper. It did not matter that there was only one bathroom because we were happy just to able to all be together.
Then there were the family activities. These varied from year to year but they were always fun. Some years we played cards and other years we might go hunting. Some years we would watch an old movie together or play video games. The important thing was that we were all having fun together.
Also there was the family lore. We would listen to stories of when my parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great aunts, and great uncles grew up. We learned about where our family came from, what made our family unique and what our family valued. Thanksgiving was the day each year when families share the stories that have molded them into what they have become.
Most importantly, there was thankfulness to the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) for all that He had done for us over the last year. Even those of us who rarely gave Him any thought during the rest of the year would express their thankfulness for His goodness to them on Thanksgiving. No words that took away from the attitude of thankfulness were spoken. Even the grouchiest relative would not complain about anything on Thanksgiving. We really gave thanks to the Father of Truth on Thanksgiving.
So for these and so many other reasons I call Thanksgiving "the happiest day of the year".
Those days of going to my Grandma Remington's house are long gone. Since that time I have been watching the disintegration of Thanksgiving occur year after year.
Many Americans still travel for Thanksgiving and the day before Thanksgiving is still the most traveled day of the year in the US. However, an ever increasing percentage of people are opting for trips to romantic getaways, theme parks, Gatlinburg and the like instead of visiting with their extended family. Of course, they are not only missing the opportunity to connect with their extended family but are also denying the people who are forced to work on Thanksgiving to accommodate them the opportunity to connect with their extended family.
Stores have continually crowded out Thanksgiving more and more each year in order to make more room for the more lucrative holidays of Halloween and Christmas. They and their customers can hardly wait for Thanksgiving to be over so they can begin the mad rush of "Black Friday" sales. Their dissatisfaction with what they already have has grown year after year until it is no longer appropriate to call the sales "Black Friday" sales since the stores are now opening as early as 5 pm on Thanksgiving Day. So even more workers are denied the opportunity to connect with their extended family or to even enjoy an entire day off.
Of course, many families do not even really connect in a meaningful way on Thanksgiving anymore. Instead, they watch football on TV being played by teams that most of them normally would not care about instead of spending time having fun with each other. They have no time to pass down the stories that form a strong family identity. Thanksgiving for them has disintegrated into just another day to watch football and drink beer. The only difference between how they spend it and their weekends is that they are eating turkey instead of their usual fare.
Thanksgiving is no longer about expressing thankfulness to the Father of Truth in most American families. In fact, many do not even call it "Thanksgiving" but rather "Turkey Day". Thanksgiving is simply not about giving thanks anymore.
Why has Thanksgiving literally lost its meaning? What has driven the disintegration of Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving is disintegrating because of vain attempts to fill the void in the human heart with material possessions. The endless pursuit of material things epitomized by the mad rush of Black Friday and Thanksgiving night consumes the very lives of people (Proverbs 1:19). Every year people bring trouble to their homes just to get things that will never satisfy them (Proverbs 15:27). So people enslave themselves and their families to their creditors for another year (Proverbs 22:7). Yet those who look for material things to satisfy them can never have enough material things to be satisfied (Isaiah 56:11). They remain empty inside because a full life does not come from having an abundance of stuff (Luke 12:15). They cannot be content with having all of the material things that they really need so they work and slave for every dime just to get things that they will either one day lose or leave behind (1 Timothy 6:7-9). The emptiness of the human heart can never be filled by getting Bigger, Better, Newer stuff.
Thanksgiving is disintegrating because the American family is disintegrating. The American family is disintegrating because there is a high divorce rate from people divorcing for any cause (Matthew 19:3). This comes from people looking at marriage as a legal status granted by the government that can be broken with the permission of the government instead of a lifelong covenant that came from the Father of Truth (Matthew 19:4-6). They bail out on their families for any reason even though the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) said that divorce is only for cases of adultery and other types of fornication (Matthew 19:7-9). So their children end up with blended families that are bound to run into tension at family gatherings especially when the answer is not really clear to the question: Whose Wife Is She? Their children of no sense of security when their parents will not fight to create a stable home life but instead they take The Nuclear Option. In some case the American family has became so messed up that people are living like they are Married In Sodom. No wonder people do not want to spend time with their extended family when they do not have any sense of permanently belonging to a family or are not really even sure which family they belong to!
Thanksgiving is disintegrating because there can be no thanks giving without the Father of Truth to give thanks to. There can literally be no thanks giving for all of those Americans who have reject the Father of Truth because they believe The Greatest Fairy Tale Ever Told. They believe that they were not given anything but all that they have came by their own hard work (Deuteronomy 8:17). They do not acknowledge that the Father of Truth made all things that they enjoy so they cannot be thankful to Him for those things (Romans 1:20-21). Since they have no hope after the grave they pursue all the pleasure that they can by feasting and drinking (1 Corinthians 15:32). So to them Thanksgiving has disintegrated into an extra day off to eat turkey, drink beer and watch football.
Thanksgiving is disintegrating due to competition from holidays that the Founding Fathers did not celebrate and were even outlawed in most colonies. One of these holidays, Christmas, is a celebration of unmitigated greed while the other one, Halloween, is a celebration of the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil). These holidays were brought over by the very kind of people that the Pilgrims left Europe to separate themselves from. These holidays that take the minds of Americans off of the Father of Truth and cause them to focus on themselves have grown in popularity through A Subtle Influence similar to the changes in America regarding homosexuality.
This is not the first time that something like this has happened to a nation. The Book of Truth (The Bible) tells of another time that something similar happened to ancient Israel. The disintegration of Thanksgiving is symptomatic of the societal changes that will lead to The Death of America. It would be wonderful if Americans could learn from the mistakes of ancient Israel instead of repeating them as the mistakes of the United States. Then Americans could avoid the inevitable consequences of making those same mistakes. Instead the disintegration of Thanksgiving continues.
The real problem is that no one can truly celebrate Thanksgiving until they come into the House of Truth (Psalm 95:2). They cannot give thanks from the heart to the Father of Truth until they come into the House of Truth (Romans 6:17). They can only come into the House of Truth by putting the Man of Truth in charge of their lives because they believe that he was raised from the dead by the Father of Truth (Romans 10:8-10). After they come into the House of Truth then they will really be able to celebrate Thanksgiving (Colossians 2:6-7).
Come into the House of Truth.
Thanksgiving has always been my favorite American holiday. There are a lot of reasons for this.
For one thing it is the grand finale of my favorite season. Thanksgiving says "goodbye Fall, hello Winter" similar to how Labor day says "goodbye Summer, hello Fall". Most homes have been decorated with Fall decorations that will soon vanish like the leaves on the trees. They are decorated in the warm and vibrant colors of fall foliage as well as many emblems of fall like scarecrows and pumpkins. Then all of the splendor of fall is crowned with decorations of Pilgrims, Indians, and turkeys for Thanksgiving day.
Then there is the feasting on turkey and sundry other items. It reminds us of how the Pilgrims and Indians gathered together in feast to share in the bounty that their mutually beneficial friendship had produced. It is a perfect picture of peace and prosperity that came from love. In the same way, family members would put aside all ill feelings and unkind remarks for a day of feasting in the home of the family matriarch. There was always more food than people could eat and families reminisced about shared experiences growing up that still bound them together.
Of course, what is feasting without family? Thanksgiving was often the one day a year when everyone in a large family like that of my Grandma Remington (9 kids, 43 grandkids) would somehow manage to all meet at her house. The floors at night were covered with wall to wall with people sleeping. Sometimes, some of us would just sleep in tents or a camper. It did not matter that there was only one bathroom because we were happy just to able to all be together.
Then there were the family activities. These varied from year to year but they were always fun. Some years we played cards and other years we might go hunting. Some years we would watch an old movie together or play video games. The important thing was that we were all having fun together.
Also there was the family lore. We would listen to stories of when my parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great aunts, and great uncles grew up. We learned about where our family came from, what made our family unique and what our family valued. Thanksgiving was the day each year when families share the stories that have molded them into what they have become.
Most importantly, there was thankfulness to the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) for all that He had done for us over the last year. Even those of us who rarely gave Him any thought during the rest of the year would express their thankfulness for His goodness to them on Thanksgiving. No words that took away from the attitude of thankfulness were spoken. Even the grouchiest relative would not complain about anything on Thanksgiving. We really gave thanks to the Father of Truth on Thanksgiving.
So for these and so many other reasons I call Thanksgiving "the happiest day of the year".
Those days of going to my Grandma Remington's house are long gone. Since that time I have been watching the disintegration of Thanksgiving occur year after year.
Many Americans still travel for Thanksgiving and the day before Thanksgiving is still the most traveled day of the year in the US. However, an ever increasing percentage of people are opting for trips to romantic getaways, theme parks, Gatlinburg and the like instead of visiting with their extended family. Of course, they are not only missing the opportunity to connect with their extended family but are also denying the people who are forced to work on Thanksgiving to accommodate them the opportunity to connect with their extended family.
Stores have continually crowded out Thanksgiving more and more each year in order to make more room for the more lucrative holidays of Halloween and Christmas. They and their customers can hardly wait for Thanksgiving to be over so they can begin the mad rush of "Black Friday" sales. Their dissatisfaction with what they already have has grown year after year until it is no longer appropriate to call the sales "Black Friday" sales since the stores are now opening as early as 5 pm on Thanksgiving Day. So even more workers are denied the opportunity to connect with their extended family or to even enjoy an entire day off.
Of course, many families do not even really connect in a meaningful way on Thanksgiving anymore. Instead, they watch football on TV being played by teams that most of them normally would not care about instead of spending time having fun with each other. They have no time to pass down the stories that form a strong family identity. Thanksgiving for them has disintegrated into just another day to watch football and drink beer. The only difference between how they spend it and their weekends is that they are eating turkey instead of their usual fare.
Thanksgiving is no longer about expressing thankfulness to the Father of Truth in most American families. In fact, many do not even call it "Thanksgiving" but rather "Turkey Day". Thanksgiving is simply not about giving thanks anymore.
Why has Thanksgiving literally lost its meaning? What has driven the disintegration of Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving is disintegrating because of vain attempts to fill the void in the human heart with material possessions. The endless pursuit of material things epitomized by the mad rush of Black Friday and Thanksgiving night consumes the very lives of people (Proverbs 1:19). Every year people bring trouble to their homes just to get things that will never satisfy them (Proverbs 15:27). So people enslave themselves and their families to their creditors for another year (Proverbs 22:7). Yet those who look for material things to satisfy them can never have enough material things to be satisfied (Isaiah 56:11). They remain empty inside because a full life does not come from having an abundance of stuff (Luke 12:15). They cannot be content with having all of the material things that they really need so they work and slave for every dime just to get things that they will either one day lose or leave behind (1 Timothy 6:7-9). The emptiness of the human heart can never be filled by getting Bigger, Better, Newer stuff.
Thanksgiving is disintegrating because the American family is disintegrating. The American family is disintegrating because there is a high divorce rate from people divorcing for any cause (Matthew 19:3). This comes from people looking at marriage as a legal status granted by the government that can be broken with the permission of the government instead of a lifelong covenant that came from the Father of Truth (Matthew 19:4-6). They bail out on their families for any reason even though the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) said that divorce is only for cases of adultery and other types of fornication (Matthew 19:7-9). So their children end up with blended families that are bound to run into tension at family gatherings especially when the answer is not really clear to the question: Whose Wife Is She? Their children of no sense of security when their parents will not fight to create a stable home life but instead they take The Nuclear Option. In some case the American family has became so messed up that people are living like they are Married In Sodom. No wonder people do not want to spend time with their extended family when they do not have any sense of permanently belonging to a family or are not really even sure which family they belong to!
Thanksgiving is disintegrating because there can be no thanks giving without the Father of Truth to give thanks to. There can literally be no thanks giving for all of those Americans who have reject the Father of Truth because they believe The Greatest Fairy Tale Ever Told. They believe that they were not given anything but all that they have came by their own hard work (Deuteronomy 8:17). They do not acknowledge that the Father of Truth made all things that they enjoy so they cannot be thankful to Him for those things (Romans 1:20-21). Since they have no hope after the grave they pursue all the pleasure that they can by feasting and drinking (1 Corinthians 15:32). So to them Thanksgiving has disintegrated into an extra day off to eat turkey, drink beer and watch football.
Thanksgiving is disintegrating due to competition from holidays that the Founding Fathers did not celebrate and were even outlawed in most colonies. One of these holidays, Christmas, is a celebration of unmitigated greed while the other one, Halloween, is a celebration of the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil). These holidays were brought over by the very kind of people that the Pilgrims left Europe to separate themselves from. These holidays that take the minds of Americans off of the Father of Truth and cause them to focus on themselves have grown in popularity through A Subtle Influence similar to the changes in America regarding homosexuality.
This is not the first time that something like this has happened to a nation. The Book of Truth (The Bible) tells of another time that something similar happened to ancient Israel. The disintegration of Thanksgiving is symptomatic of the societal changes that will lead to The Death of America. It would be wonderful if Americans could learn from the mistakes of ancient Israel instead of repeating them as the mistakes of the United States. Then Americans could avoid the inevitable consequences of making those same mistakes. Instead the disintegration of Thanksgiving continues.
The real problem is that no one can truly celebrate Thanksgiving until they come into the House of Truth (Psalm 95:2). They cannot give thanks from the heart to the Father of Truth until they come into the House of Truth (Romans 6:17). They can only come into the House of Truth by putting the Man of Truth in charge of their lives because they believe that he was raised from the dead by the Father of Truth (Romans 10:8-10). After they come into the House of Truth then they will really be able to celebrate Thanksgiving (Colossians 2:6-7).
Come into the House of Truth.
Labels: America, Thanksgiving
posted by The House Of Truth @ November 22, 2014
<< Home