Senior Moments

A photo from the internet.

When I was teaching in China, my students always wanted to know what was the ‘most American’ holiday.  After some probing, I decided that what they really wanted to know was what holiday was most uniquely American.

Many countries celebrate Christmas (it was even celebrated in China) and every nation has a special celebration for its independence.  So I told them that the most American holiday was Thanksgiving.  Part of my reason was the historical background of the holiday and part was the fact that this holiday was about families and being thankful or the blessings of our lives.  But how would you have answered their question?

On this Thanksgiving Day I would like to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving.  Betsy and I are heading to the mountains of east Tennessee to work off our feast by doing some hiking and visiting waterfalls.  I’m not sure if we’ll have internet access while we’re gone, but we’ll be back home Sunday and I’ll catch up with all of you then.

I would also like to share with you this Thanksgiving prayer:

Almighty God, giver of all good things:
We thank you for the natural majesty and beauty of this land.  They restore us, though we often destroy them.

We thank you for the great resources of this nation.  They make us rich, though we often exploit them.

We thank you for the torch of liberty which has been lit in this land.  It has drawn people from every nation, though we have often hidden from its light.

We thank you for the faith we have inherited in all its rich variety.  It sustains our life, though we have been faithless again and again.

Help us, O Lord, to finish the good work here begun.  Strengthen our efforts to blot out ignorance and prejudice, and to abolish poverty and crime.  And hasten the day when all our people, with many voices in one united chorus, will glorify your holy Name.  Amen.

— The Book of Common Prayer

Tags: American Life, Holidays, Thanksgiving

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