Thanksgiving: What are We Celebrating?

New Years.  Presidents’ Day.  Memorial Day.  4th of July.  Veterans Day.  Christmas.

I understand the origin and meaning of these holidays.  We are either commemorating some great event in our past, or celebrating something new.

However, I’m not sure exactly what we’re celebrating on Thanksgiving.  Yeah, Yeah…I realize that it is a time to give thanks.  But what are we celebrating?

Is it America’s successful demolition of the Native Americans?

Is it a economic foundation of prosperity built on the backs of slaves?

I’m serious.  I really don’t know the real origin of this holiday, and I’m interested to know what YOU THINK we’re celebrating.

(On a lighter note, check out last year’s Rules for Thanksgiving Dinner.)

$12,000 a Year

Could you live on $12,000 in annual income? I hear many of you laughing and saying, “I can barely live on $12,000 PER MONTH!”

I read this article today (click to read) and it forced me to really evaluate how I approach my finances.

More money typically means more stuff–either in quality or quantity–for ourselves. We usually want more money so that we can improve our standard of living.

In the article, the author lives on $12,000 per year and still decides to tithe (give a percentage of money to her church). She does it because “tithing reminds me that there are lots of people worse off than me, people who’d love to have my so-called ‘problems’.”

During this season, when folks are spending money they don’t have, keep in mind that there are those who are much worse off than you…and not by choice!

Make Time Stand Still

I was reading an article about gifts that would really make a loved one happy.  The article strongly discouraged giving those impersonal gift cards.  If you really want to have an impact, give a meaningful, thoughtful gift.

Of the ideas shared in the article, there was one category of ideas that I found very interesting.  The heading for the ideas was, Make Time Stand Still.  The article stated,

People are always talking about how little time they have, how much time they waste and how badly they wish they had just one extra hour each day. So take the hint and give those you love the most precious gift of all: free time that they can spend on themselves.

Here are some of the specific ideas:

• Give your spouse a week without chores, so he or she can spend time doing more rewarding things.
• Give the new parents in your life a day or a night off while you handle the diapers and burp cloths.
• Offer to help a friend with a project, or retype her résumé or reprogram his new laptop — whatever will produce a windfall of time.

Let me ask you, if someone could give you a gift that made time stand still, what would you want?

Trick or Treat

Last night, Hasani recorded a very interesting discussion on the Christian’s response to Halloween (Click here to listen).

Is the day a big trick, designed to get the world to connect with pagan elements?  Or is it a harmless treat for our young people to dress up and gather candy?

With the “holiday” just a day away, how do you approach the day, particularly as it relates to the children in your life?