The Holidays

A few days ago I was reading an online comic which pointed out an interesting holiday phenomenon. It noted that nearly as soon as Halloween was over Christmas decorations and advertisements were already up. The comic attributed this marketing to Turkeys running the Holiday Marketing department in hopes of avoiding ending up on someones dinner plate.
However, looking around as I go to stores I've noticed the truth of this comic. I cannot recall seeing one Thanksgiving advertisement or even decoration. It seems that Thanksgiving has completely disappeared from the advertising of stores.
Why is this? I doubt it's the work of literal turkeys hoping to avoid the oven, but there must be some reason?
Might it be that we as a people have lost a little bit of perspective?
I mean, Halloween has become all about dressing up in cool outfits and getting candy. It has lost its ties to the origin of the holiday, both Christian and pagan. Along both religious veins the night we celebrate as Halloween was a night of remembrance of our ancestors. In the Christian church it was the night which preceded All Saints' Day, or All Hallow's Day, which would make it All Hallow's Eve which eventually was shortened and contracted to Halloween. All Saints' Day was set aside to honor all those Saints of the church who may have been overlooked during the normal course of feasts and celebrations. It was believed that the night before this day gouls and goblins would go around to people and cause havok unless they were appeased, hence the tradition of dressing up and asking for payment in candy to prevent tricks. While the tradition of "trick-or-treating" has closer ties to the superstitious and pagan influences on the holiday, it does not discount the day that follows it, even though it has overshadowed it.
Then, nearly two months later, we have a second major holiday. The day we choose to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, there are arguments in both directions for whether this is anywhere actually close to Jesus' real earthly birthday, but that doesn't matter to the point of this post. What does matter is that this is the day that we traditionally celebrate the physical finite Incarnation of our Infinite God. It is the perfect union of Creator and Creation unlike anything we've seen before. It is through this Incarnation that it is possible for this broken world in which we live to be reconciled to its Creator and be restored to its original order.
However, that is no longer the emphasis of this holiday. It has become a day of two errors. Firstly, it is a day marked by giving and getting. You are nearly required to give gifts to anyone for whom you can afford them, and you expect the same in return. There is unyielding pressure to buy the newest and coolest item for this person. And if you can't do that, you can cop-out and buy a gift card so they can get what they want. Which leads to the other side of that particulat coin, the receiving. Why get a gift card? So they can buy what they want and not return something they don't like. I think that takes half the fun out of giving a present anyway. But I digress. I don't think I need to belabor the point of the problem associated between Christmas and getting things. That seems to be all you hear about sometimes.
That is the second error in the celebration of this holiday. I don't think I've gone one Christmas since I've been old enough to think about it where I haven't heard some Christian organization go on and on about the evils of materialism exemplafied in the gift exchange of Christmas. I mean, yeah, it's a bit messed up here and there, and I just went on a little rant about that myself. But that is distracting from the true message of Christmas. Namely, Christ, the Gospel, God Incarnate to redeem and restore His creation.
So there we have it, the two major Holidays that mark Fall and Winter and what they were supposed to be verses what they are. But as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, there is one that is lost in the hussle of throwing out the rotting pumpkins and buying presents and decorating for Christmas. It's Thanksgiving. Why is it so easily overlooked? I would argue in part that it's because of the loss of focus of the other two Holidays: All Hallow's Day, a day to remember the saints; and Christmas, a day to celebrate the Incarnation. Both days to be thankful for different things, but morphed into getting whatever you can.
Thanksgiving differs from these holidays. Firstly, it is not specifically a religious holiday. It is a commemoration of the Pilgrim's thanking God, but it is not tied to a church holy day. Secondly, there is no giving or receiving of anything physical on thanksgiving. There is nothing for companies to market, nothing to spin, nothing to sell except for food. So it is easy to see how it gets run over by the biggest purchasing holiday of the year.
However, I think we need to be more intentional about remembering Thanksgiving. A day to reflect on the blessings we have received the previous year. A day to relax and reflect and enjoy the company of relatives and close friends with little pressure to do anything. It is a valuable change of pace. Except for the cooking and preparation of the meal, there is not much to do, and even that is a communal activity.
So I would issue a challenge this holiday season. Be Thankful. Reclaim Thanksgiving as a holiday of escape from the hustle and bustle. A day off, a day to thank God for all those who have had an influence on your life as you reflect on the holiday we just finished (All Saints' Day) and thank Him for His gracious work through His Son, through His Incarnation during the holiday we are gearing up for, and thank Him for all the other blessings He has given you and those you love, whether they be big or small.

Grace and Peace