Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — V

Vis for Vagabond

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas.  I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving:  the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

Vagabond:  a vagrant, a wandering, homeless person.

When I think of Thanksgiving, typically the four F’s come to mind: family, friends, food and football.  I think of watching the annual Macy’s Day parade followed by the Westminster Dog Show and topping the day off with a win by the Cowboys.  In most cases we eat too much, drink too much, spend too much on the meal and make too much food.

Every Thanksgiving starts the holiday shopping season, which lately seems to start sooner each year.  Commercialization is huge and everyone wants to make a buck and the people that are willing to spend the money have it made because those businesses are going to cater to them.  Personally I believe it is all just hype and they really aren’t saving a dime.  I love the people who go out shopping and come back saying, “Yeah, I saved this much money so I was able to buy this, this and this!”  Hello?  You didn’t save a dime because you spent it on something else. 

My heart goes out to those less fortunate.  I think of the people that cannot afford to buy a turkey and all the fixings.  I think about the people that don’t have a home to cook the turkey and all the fixings.  I think of the people that are alone and have no family to spend the holiday with.  This is a hard time of the year for so many people that are down and out, alone and depressed. 

James 1:27 says we are to visit the orphans and the widows in their trouble.  Deuteronomy 10:19 says “therefore love the stranger for you were strangers in the land of Egypt”.  God sees no partiality.  We are to provide for the disadvantaged as away of following God’s example.

Too many people will grumble about the company they have coming, the food they have to cook for the company they have coming, the money they have to spend for the food they have to cook for the company that they have coming.  Then after it is all said and done they will grumble some more about all the mess they have to clean up after cooking the food that they spent so much money on to feed the company that came.  Too many people find fault and something to complain about instead of being content in whatever situation they are in.

There is always someone out there that is worse off than us and there is always someone out there that is better off.  Comparing ourselves to someone else is a waste of time and it serves no purpose.  Instead of agonizing over our external circumstances and what we have to do, we need to put our sights on someone less fortunate than ourselves and do something kind for them.  Invite them to join our family for dinner, bake them a cake or a pie, maybe it’s just a kind word or a smile or perhaps a hug.  One small gesture can mean something big to someone who is down and out.

© Crackerberries 2011