Thanksgiving is this week. When asked, most people say Thanksgiving is the start of the holiday season. We gather to give thanks for all we have been given, feast on the bounty of our work, and celebrate with friends and family. It’s like a warmup for Christmas.
But I want to share a different perspective.
Thanksgiving looks back at all the things we have to be thankful for. It does not really look forward to the future. So what if Thanksgiving is, in a weird way, actually the end of the holiday season? Or at least the end of the year. It is a time to look back and celebrate the good things of the year. Then, a few days later, we start all over with the beginning of Advent.
Advent looks forward. It is a season of anticipation as Christians wait for the arrival of Jesus. The traditional cornerstones of Advent are hope, peace, joy, and love.
Now look at Thanksgiving through the four cornerstones of Advent.
- After a year of hope for a good harvest or good things or good outcomes, we celebrate.
- We gather together in peace, despite what the crazy uncle says to rile everyone up at dinner.
- The blessings we have received — be they prosperity, or health, or family, or spiritual growth — have brought us joy.
- And we do all of this with love, for God and neighbor.
Thanksgiving celebrates the things that Advent anticipates.
Look, I realize this is not how we traditionally look at Thanksgiving. But if we did view it this way, we would reflect on what we anticipated last Advent, how Christmas marks the arrival of Jesus, and how we tried to live in that spirit throughout the year.
It would give us a fuller, richer, reflective experience.
And, arguably, give us a little more patience with our crazy uncle.