Some ignorant soul wished me a happy "turkey day" this morning. I simply answered him that I do not have a "turkey day" in my life. I am from Massachusetts and I am a Catholic Christian. I resent that downgrade of THANKSGIVING DAY to "turkey day". What's next, "Cows, Sheep and Asses Day" for Christmas, or is it "Xmas", or the "Holidays"?
The people who came here from Europe to Massachusetts and landed in 1620 were here because they had taken their lives into their own hands and crossed the Atlantic Ocean to escape religious persecution.
How many of you "turkey day" people have had to escape religious persecution in your lifetime? How many of you people have experienced a change of environment so drastic and succeeded in "making it" to the level of the Pilgrims? How many of you "Christians" can appreciate the victory over hardship that these new people were celebrating in a religious way? Have you ever spent any time on or over the water without a motor? Without four jet engines? Have you ever been anywhere where you had to settle and grow your own food where you knew not the chemistry of the soil nor the language of the inhabitants? Have you ever had to settle down where there was absolutely no one in sight who had the same basic religious culture than you?
There is so much human culture (including pre-historic culture) attached to harvest time rituals, there is so much Biblical reference to rendering thanks to God at harvest time that I bristle at the insult that has crept into our Stateside culture and made Thanksgiving "turkey day." Thanksgiving Day is the last vestige of our religious beginnings. I can't recall exactly how many of the first 13
colonies were theocracies, but I do know Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Maryland was Catholic, but I'll bet they didn't have any "turkey day".
Finally, I would never have written this if the person who set me off wasn't a seminarian, a Roman Catholic seminarian who thought that he was being congenial and smart.
If by this short exposé of my deep convictions about this matter I have dumped your tea over-board, you won't be tempted to cry at my funeral. If you agree with me, go do something about it. Tell people that you do not have a "turkey day" in your life. Either way, you will not shed a single tear for me at my funeral. Don't forget to thank God for all that He has given you, not just today, but every single day. Say "thank you, God" before the first blink after opening your eyes in the morning.
2 comments:
I have slight issues with someone being so stringent about mere syntax... Of course the day is thanksgiving but if someone calls it turkey day, whats the big deal? What irked me the most is that what ticked the writer off was that a seminarian said it. Should it really matter if it were a seminarian? Just because he's studying to become a priest does NOT mean that they are slowly teaching him how to remove all of his faults or personality traits. We should be thankful that people wish others a happy day to begin with...
Thank you for stating your position on this matter. I enjoy it when a reader fires back.
I would like to say that I don't believe that there is such a thing as "mere syntax." I believe the saying that Jesus left us, "The mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart." I believe that a seminarian should have a heart full of the meaning of Thanksgiving, that God is the soul of the day.
By the way, the seminarian saw me again some fifteen minutes later and wished me a happy Thanksgiving as we were parting ways for the weekend.
Thank you for joining us. Stick around, there's a lot more where this came from. You'll find many more things to react to along the way. God bless you.
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