Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the time of year that we celebrate God's bounty to, and protection over our nation, as the Pilgrims did nearly 400 years ago. Just as the master of the vineyard surrounds his prize grapes with a net of protection from outside predators, so are we surrounded by a hedge of protection from our predators. While the media sends a barrage of conflicting political messages about money, military and mismanagement in Washington, we are nevertheless surrounded by a net of protection that no foreign enemy dares to penetrate, at least not for now.

Compared to other nations, we really are a land of plenty, and Thanksgiving is the one day out of the year set aside to commemorate just that. It's a time when families traditionally get together and eat, and eat, and eat. Every family has its favorite turkey recipe that has been passed from generation to generation, even though they only use it twice a year, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and of course each one is the best one ever.

We will justify our gluttony as we will have worked up an appetite going into New York to elbow our way to a front row "seat" for the Macy's Day parade. Others will justify it as preparation to fend off crowds of fellow shoppers on Black Friday. But no matter what our rationale, when we finally push ourselves away from the table we vow to never eat so much again, when in fact, we all know it's just a warm-up for Christmas.