This post is adapted from a column I wrote for "The Anchor," the monthly newsletter of Christ Church, Exeter, New Hampshire
As we anticipate the Thanksgiving holiday this week, I am struck by the disconnect between the way we celebrate the day in American culture and the collect in the Prayer Book for Thanksgiving Day.
In the United States, Thanksgiving has primarily become a holiday in which we prepare more food than we need, eat more food than our bodies can comfortably hold, and prepare for the general indulgence that often marks the "holiday season." I'm not trying to be judgmental here. I love the excuse the Thanksgiving feast gives me to get second and third helpings and to enjoy some extra dessert! I also love the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years, and not only for the holy parts associated with church.
Yet, I find the collect appointed for Thanksgiving Day a good correction for my cultural bias. It refocuses me on what this day is supposed to be about, at least from a Christian perspective.
Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
After giving thanks, the collect asks that God make us "faithful stewards . . . for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need." This is, I believe, the heart of the prayer and words that are well worth praying over and over and over. Note that we are asking God to empower us to use the bounty of the earth so that our needs and the needs of others can be met. We are not giving thanks to God for the opportunity to indulge ourselves.
We live in a narcissistic culture in which we generally confuse our wants with our needs. There is a tremendous difference between what we want and what we need and it is important for us to differentiate them. When we confuse the two, when we begin to believe that what we want is what we need, we risk indulging ourselves at the cost of the needs of others.
The collect for Thanksgiving Day reminds us that we cannot live solely for ourselves. We are called to live for others. This does not mean sacrificing our own needs. It means we need to weigh our wants with the needs of others. The gospel paradox is that by doing so—by satisfying both our own needs and the needs of others—we create a "great bounty" for all.
One of the characteristics of the church as a "new commons" is that we commit ourselves to a common good, a good for society that seeks to lift everyone up so that all can experience the "great bounty" that God provides. For this to happen, we must listen carefully to the words of the collect and seek to make them real in our actions.
I'm not advocating here for some sort of holy austerity. I have more than I need in my life and I believe that as human beings it is important to treat ourselves now and then. I plan to enjoy indulging in a second helping of turkey and stuffing on Thanksgiving Day (perhaps I'll even have a second piece of pie).
Yet I hope I do so with the knowledge that I am enjoying a want, not satisfying a need. And I hope that I might be inspired—after enjoying this great bounty—to be a faithful steward for the relief of all who are in need not only at Thanksgiving but throughout my life.
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