“When Thursday Vanishes”

“On Thanksgiving we give thanks for the gift of having people to love and the great bounty of life to share.”  – Alexandra Stoddard

 

Several years ago, I came across the following editorial. It touched my heart, as all wonderful thoughts and words can do.  So, I thought rather than keeping it in my ‘little book of special things,’ I would share it with you. 

 

Editorial, The New York Times 

Printed on November 21, 2012

 

“Over the years, we have come to love the fixedness of Thanksgiving.  Always on a Thursday, by proclamation, this holiday is unmindful of anyone’s inconvenience.  Even Christmas Day must fall on a weekend some years, but never Thanksgiving.  It causes as much fuss as possible – a stir that disrupts the entire week, year after year.  Yet when the last of the guests have arrived and everyone is seated at the table, there comes a pause, a toast, a grace – long or short, secular or sacred, vocal or silent – that says what this holiday is for.  Thursday vanishes, and in its place is Thanksgiving.

It’s natural to look inward on this day, at the faces around the table, the private rituals that make each family’s holiday its own.  It’s easy to forget that it remains Thursday on the rest of the planet.  For this day, at least, America and Americans everywhere seem to cast off from the world at large, to stand apart for a few moments of contemplation.  Perhaps you know the feeling if you’ve ever lived abroad when late November comes – the way Americans seek each other out on the holiday, the way you proselytize pumpkin pie, the way traditions you somehow took for granted suddenly find a new power to move you.  You dust off the Norman Rockwell corner of your heart, which you didn’t even know existed, and patiently explain the virtues of corn-bread stuffing.

There is an adage that says “enough is as good as a feast.”  We celebrate having enough by having the feast.  Over the centuries, thanks of every sort have attached themselves to this day:  thanks for deliverance from war, from loss, from suffering, from despair; thanks for increase and plenty, for duty and service, for fulfillment and enduring hope, for one generation succeeding another.  That one meal can be so solemn and so joyful, so expressive – always comes as a surprise.”

 

 

 

Blessings to you and yours this Thanksgiving !

 

Au Revoir,

Sandra

 

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8 thoughts on ““When Thursday Vanishes”

  1. Enough is good as a feast…I really like that. I will pin this to a board I call “Good Words”, Sandra. Thank you for sharing. I hope your Thanksgiving is all that. XO

    1. Rita: Thank you for your kind words. Wishing you and yours a beautiful and joy filled Thanksgiving !

  2. Sandra, thank you for sharing, this is beautifully written! I agree with Rita, Enough is good as a feast…I also like that! Wishing you and your family a beauty-filled Thanksgiving!

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