The Holiday That Time Forgot

How many of you out there remember Thanksgiving?  It used to be a major USAmerican holiday.  Now...well, not so much.  It's been swallowed up by the ever growing Halloween season and the now endless Christmas season. It is a day to pause for a huge meal, watch some football and to rest up for the horror that is Black Friday.  It used to be a day to stop and thank God for all of the blessings in our lives- thus the catchy name!  It was a major religious celebration right from the beginning, with pilgrims and Native Americans bonding over a meal- you know, the whole "they call it maize but we call it corn" kind of thing.  Now we are more often thankful that the last of the turkey has finally been eaten or that the in-laws have finally gone home.  It has fallen so far that the school board in Tampa (which fights about every religious holiday) closes schools without a single argument about whether or not it is a religious holiday.  The day holds that little significance.  So with Thanksgiving a little over 2 weeks away, is there any way we can return it to its former glory?  Here are a few of my thoughts...

•  Give it a new icon.  The turkey and the pilgrim just don't cut it in this fast-paced world.  How can they expect to compete with the horror movies, goblins and ghouls of Halloween or with lights, trees, Santa and the elves at Christmas?  I'm open to suggestions.  Perhaps a superhero with turkey-like powers, like a "Sonic Gobble" or a Tryptophan Breath that renders you sleepy.  I'm just spitballin' here...
• Get some musical legends (Bono, JLo, Justin Bieber, Weird Al, Randy Jackson, etc.) to do an album of Thanksgiving songs, complete with videos.  Give the holiday a little street cred! 
• Make NBC show the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on a continuous loop all day long. And while they're at it, bring in Robin Williams to do the commentary- and throw away the scripts. Make every other non-football network loop the "Flying Turkeys" episode of WKRP in Cincinnati (if you don't what I'm talking about, go to YouTube right this minute!).  Now we're talking!  And while we're talking TV, let's do away with the night football game.  No one gets the NFL Network anyway, do they?
• Make every store put up a Thanksgiving display from November 1 through the 4th Thursday of November.  No Christmas ads, displays, decorations and above all music will be allowed until Turkey Day is done.  Let's get Hallmark in on this one- if they pushed Thanksgiving cards a little harder we might not be in this mess...
• Some big Hollywood director needs to make a Thanksgiving movie that we actually want to watch. You know, a big action/adventure/comedy/drama starring Brad Pitt, Mila Kunis, Adam Sandler and Betty White in a story about a family that is falling apart, only to come back together when they save the world from aliens with the help of their wacky neighbors (played by Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco, because The Big Bang Theory rules!).  In the end,  a local pastor (played, of course, by the always sensitive Will Ferrell) unites them as as family, and everyone sits down together- actors and aliens- for a big Thanksgiving meal.  Prayers are said.  Tears flow.  Fade to black...

This stuff might actually work... NOT!   The things that have always made this holiday special- faith, family and food- are just not the kinds of things that "sell" in 2011. But they are definitely the kinds of things we should celebrate!  Thanksgiving was never meant to be about a single day- it is meant to be about a year of giving thanks for the things that are important in our lives.  It is meant to be the celebration of our "attitude of gratitude," which should be with us 24/7, 365.  So for these next 2 weeks, let's kick it up a notch!  Be thankful, and live like you are.  Share your attitude of gratitude with others.  Enjoy time with your family. Thank God everyday.  And work on that new icon and a few Thanksgiving carols.  It can't hurt...


Because of Jesus,