Thanksgiving Day is a day nationally dedicated to prayer, praise and gratitude. It is a day of faith that dedicates us to something bigger and more important than ourselves and our possessions. It is a day where the truth in the words of the Lord's Prayers, "Give us this day our daily bread," comes to life. Truth as old and simple as this came to life for me on a Thanksgiving Day some 10 years ago.
Years ago, when my children were children, we made it a family tradition to volunteer for Thanksgiving at the local Salvation Army of Pomona and Ontario. We each took on responsibilities based on our strengths or abilities. My husband loved to wear an apron and serve the public, (although, for the life of me, I could never get him to do that at home!) My daughter held infants or looked after them while their mothers ate. My son enjoyed greeting people and waiting at tables. I helped cook, serve or manage the kitchen.
During one of those years of service, there was a little girl, impeccably dressed, who had come with her mother to volunteer. She must have been no older than eight or nine. Her mother must have brought her there for the same reason that I used to bring my children at that young age. To teach them that with their own good fortune came the responsibility to give back to the world. To encourage them to become more spontaneous in giving and sharing and caring and reaching out to their fellow men and neighbors. To be grateful for whatever they had.
The Captain, who ran the operation of the Salvation Army, said a prayer of thanks for the food to be received, and the the din of a lively dining room came to life among 200 guests with the hustle and bustle of volunteers who went back and forth eagerly serving plates of food. The aroma of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, candied yams, green beans and fresh oven baked buttered rolls was so intoxicating as it wafted from the kitchen into the service area and the dining room that it whet the appetites of all who attended, guests and hosts alike. It was too inviting especially for the little girl who had helped serve some hot rolls and who now stood next to her mother while guests were eating. Suddenly, she turned to her mother and, in a voice clearly audible, she blurted, "Momma, I wish we were poor also, so I could eat some of this food."
For a brief moment, silence reigned. I sensed the mother's embarassment. She didn't know quite what to say. At that moment a solemn laborer at the table looked up from his plate. You could tell life had knocked him around. But I remember vividly, his worn face lit up with a truth as old and simple as, "Oh child, you don't have to be poor to receive this gift...just blessed. Join us."
This tired man, despite the hardship in his life, had shown us the meaning of "give us this day our daily bread." The value of such a prayer is to remind us that regardless of our life situation, receiving the food that we eat is as much a gift as it is an earned reward. It is a reminder of our daily dependence on the graciousness of God. And especially today, when our hearts are more focused on the gratuitous blessings of family gatherings, let us become more spontaneous in our daily recognition of the divine goodness in our lives.
Have a wonderful and contented Thanksgiving, today and everyday.
This I humbly speak, with a content heart.
