Here we are again at this time of year. One song says that it is the “most wonderful time of the year” and “the happiest season of all.” Over the past few years, this has become a season of sorrow for me - sorrow because so many have lost sight of the true meaning of our celebrations.
Thanksgiving. For Americans, the holiday season begins with a day of feasting on a turkey dinner and remembering the “first Thanksgiving” when the “Indians and Pilgrims” shared a meal together. But how many actually take a step beyond simply gorging themselves to truly take time to be thankful to God for the many blessings He has bestowed upon us?
This year I’ve become very much aware of the material blessings I have – I’m so thankful that it is painful. I’m thankful to God for all I have – but it’s a painful thanksgiving because I know there are so many others who lack the basic essentials. I live in a relatively nice apartment, complete with running water and heat, not to mention luxuries like a washing machine and refrigerator. But I know people who struggle to make ends meet. Take a family of 5 I know – a married couple, their 2 children, and the wife’s mother – who live together in a 1-room house. They’ve been building a new home all summer and fall and have run out of money -- and time (as winter is now making its arrival). They’re almost finished with the new house, but it still lacks a chimney and doors. It’s urgent that they move because they’ve taken the roof off their old makeshift house’s kitchen to put on the new house. In fact, they are now taking the wood off the outside of the old house to use as firewood because they can’t afford wood for the winter. As temperatures fall quickly and winter arrives, they want so badly to be able to finish their new house to have a warm place to live. They’re stuck between their new and old houses. It pains me to be thankful when I know there are so many without.
For me, Thanksgiving needs to be more than stuffing myself with turkey or even counting my blessings. Instead, I think of God’s promise to Abraham – that Abraham was blessed in order to be a blessing to others. How can I simply thank God for blessing me without me sharing those blessings with others?
Christmas. How is it that a day of giving thanks is so quickly replaced with a season of greed in American culture? Black Friday sales encourage shoppers to buy more and more for themselves and loved ones than they would ever need. How can we turn the “pain of Thanksgiving” into sharing our countless blessings for Christmas? What if instead of spending money on presents for people who already have everything, we shared what we had with the poor and needy who have next to nothing? Speaking for myself, I can say that I have everything and more than I could ever dream of.
Advent. I choose to observe the season of Advent. It begins on Sunday with the lighting of the first Advent candle and lasts until Christmas Eve, which is the beginning of the Christmas season. In the past few years, I’ve come to love the Advent season. Instead of focusing on the greed of a consumeristic culture, or on decorating Christmas trees and Santa Claus, there is one refrain which is said over and over again: “Come, Lord Jesus, Come.” It is a recognition that the world is not the way it should be. It’s a longing for Jesus to come and set things straight. It’s looking backward to Bethlehem and looking forward to His return. All will be made right when Jesus comes.
This year, I'm experiencing a painful Thanksgiving - thankful that I’ve been blessed yet knowing that so many others lack the basic necessities. I ask God for wisdom for how to share my blessings with others, and I await the day when the Lord Jesus will return and the first shall be last, the poor shall be rich, and the hungry shall be satisfied.
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