Ping.
I agree - I love Thanksgiving. It has disheartened me to see it being basically ignored and skipped over the last 10 years or so. When stores start putting up Christmas decor in August, it turns me away. When I only see Christmas-themed commercials this week - and nothing dealing with Thanksgiving - it turns me away.
I wish people would care more about Thanksgiving, I think a little more appreciation and gratefulness would be a good thing.
Just lovely.
Charles, I gotta tell you, even Wednesday evening I was too busy to go to church. When the pastor said Sunday that the 6 and 9 am Masses for today were being replaced with one 10 am Mass, I knew I wasn't making it. I started working again at 7:30 this morning. Whoever's cooking just CAN'T knock off for a 10 o'clock service. We'll give thanks at home for all the blessings we still have, though three wrecked families, a death and seemingly endless financial crises are challenges.
We combined Thanksgiving Eve with the Commemoration of Puritan hymn-writer Isaac Watts as this was the first time that Thanksgiving Eve had so coincided in eleven years.
Watts, as a Puritan, is fine lens through which to consider American Thanksgiving Day, and his ability to render praise in spite of poverty and ill health shines as example of faithfulness.
In addition to all the tradional Thanksgiving hymns we sang four Watts hymns, “Come, let us join our cheerful songs” (LSB 812), “Jesus shall reign” (LSB 832), “Before Jehovah’s awesome throne (LBW # 531) at the Offertory, and “O God, our help in ages past” (LSB 733) during the Distribution. It was particularly touching to watch our newest octogenarian receive our Lord’s body just as the words “time, like an ever-rolling stream....” were sung.