Many people I know have the favorite holiday of Christmas, including my dear departed mother. I can understand the sentiment. On the non-religious side there is the pageantry and decorations. There are also those who look forward to the giving and/or receiving of presents. On the religious side there is the birth of the savior, which trumps presents and garlands.
But to me, I have a hard time seeing Christmas through anything but a cynic's eyes. Especially in the modern era where the decorations and salesmanship starts before Halloween in many places. Christmas has been corrupted by marketing... The true cynics would point out that the Christians corrupted the pagan holiday, so it's only fair that the Christian holiday is in turn corrupted...
The second most popular holiday to the religious is Easter. It's celebrating the rebirth or resurrection of the Savior. While not as commercialized as Christmas, it has still become sadly diluted. Easter eggs, and Easter baskets are commonplace even among the irreligious.
The cynic is me, always preferred Good Friday to Easter. In part it was because Easter has been corrupted by candy and bunnies. But also people who don't go to church regularly often will only go on Easter, which makes me a little sad. I am glad that people acknowledge the profound nature of Easter, but full time is better than part time... Anyway, Good Friday celebrates, although perhaps commemorates is a more appropriate word, the death of the Jesus. If he hadn't sacrificed himself, he couldn't have been resurrected. So Easter is about fulfilling the promise, and Good Friday is paying for it.
All that being said, really doesn't talk about Thanksgiving, which is the subject of this blog post, after all. So what does all of that have to do with Thanksgiving?
Many people have many different opinions about what the best holiday is... To me, the best holiday is Thanksgiving. Even with "Black Friday" creeping into Thursday, Thanksgiving is still a relatively un-commericalized holiday. Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Valentine's Day... They are all about giving and receiving. Thanksgiving is about sharing. Yes, it is about consuming vast amounts of food, and there are people who sit around watching football, or the parade, but fundamentally, it is a time to spend with family and friends and just enjoy each others company.
Ironically, it is fundamentally about consumption, but manages to not be commercialized. Perhaps the folks at Butterball think differently, but Thanksgiving seems to have avoided corruption, because it is already about having. The Pilgrims celebrated that they had enough food to survive. Lincoln recognized during the height of the Civil War that there was still enough bounty to be thankful for, no matter how bleak the world may look. Thanksgiving is about having and sharing, not having and giving.
As for Black Friday... Have you noticed that they don't advertise the sale as starting on Thanksgiving day? It's always, the night before Black Friday, or maybe Thursday night. There is something that seems sacred about Thanksgiving, which transcends religion (since Thanksgiving is not a religious holiday).
I hope there are others out there that enjoy Thanksgiving as much as I do. That recognize that Thanksgiving is different than all the other holidays. It is a holiday that is already owned by the common man, and cannot be corrupted in image or purpose, because it already serves it's purpose so clearly.
P.S. A post about Thanksgiving doesn't seem complete without listed what I'm thankful for. I am thankful for many things, but I'm just going to say that I'm thankful for Thanksgiving...
