Cold Turkey

 I am starting to wonder about the conventional wisdom of Thanksgiving. I mean, I get the whole idea about being grateful. That seems like something we might want to make a part of every day, but the idea of a feast. Well, let's just say that I wonder how that has aged over the years. 

Back in 1621 when fifty-some settlers from another land sat down to dine with ninety-some Wampanoag to mark a successful harvest, I don't think they had Turducken on the menu. They probably had some sense of what they were doing, putting together a way to show gratitude to those who had made survival possible. And probably to commemorate the large number of their party that didn't make it through the previous winter. The half that were left of the original group that came across on the Mayflower probably felt pretty justified in the three day gorge-fest they organized more than four hundred years ago. 

These days, the survival rate of transatlantic crossings has risen sharply. The survival rate for the Wampanoag not so much. Thanks again for that nudge with our little startup, but we can pretty much take it from here. And thanks again to all those other tribes who gave us all the room to spread out. While we effectively extinguished an entire race of people, we still gather together to ask the lord's blessing and to eat until our guts strain and we make room for that one last piece of pie. 

One in six American children face hunger every day. Four hundred years later. This is why we get those letters in the mail asking us to think of them while we stuff our faces. A big show is made of those Thanksgiving dinners put on by various charities, with all the trimmings. Next Thursday, we hope there are leftovers. 

Yes, I understand I am throwing a big bucket of cold gravy on what should be a festive time. I admit that I am not currently willing to simply forgo the annual tradition of conspicuous consumption, much in the same way that I have yet to find the off button for Christmas. These impulses are buried deep in the wiring, and simply pulling the plug seems like a moderately impossible task. 

Instead, I propose we go into this day with our eyes and hearts open. Appreciation for those things we have, those around us, another trip around the sun. And certainly, our remarkable ability to digest.