Happy Thanksgiving

Last Sunday (November 13th), I was reading the Springfield News-Sun, and 
as I turned to page 11B it reached right out of that newspaper and grabbed 
me. At first I thought, “OH HERE WE GO AGAIN, AN AD BY WAL-MART.” 
Wal-Mart who does not acknowledge Happy Hanukah, Happy Thanksgiving 
or Merry Christmas because they don’t want to offend anyone in the name 
of making a dollar.

The Ad that grabbed my attention had in big print Happy Thanksgiving,
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and the words Happy and Merry were 
crossed out. Underneath it read, “Maybe you don’t feel joyful this year.”
The more I got looking at the article I agreed, for I don’t feel like Happy
Thanksgiving. I would just rather pass this date up and get on with living.

For you know what’s wrong with Thanksgiving? I’ll tell you what’s wrong 
with Thanksgiving, there is nothing to be happy or thankful for. I don’t want 
Thanksgiving to be the way it is.

Little Walter wants to spend Thanksgiving on the farm with my favorite Aunt 
Mildred and Uncle Spark. With my parents, grandparents, my cousins; 
Dennis, Larry and Sandy and my shadow…My brown Chihuahua Cracker, 
with his humongous brown eyes and a tail that loved to wave and a heart 
that loved to cuddle with me. 

That’s where little Walter’s suppose to be for Thanksgiving because I was 
adopted at Thanksgiving. They even threw a meal to welcome me to the 
family that included Turkey and all the fixins! My Aunt Mildred’s cooking, 
and oh those home made pies, they were so good that I constantly checked 
my heart to see if I was alive, cause’ I thought I had died and went to heaven. 
As I ate my father’s not world famous home made baked beans that could 
put any gas station in the world out of business I was happy. As I played 
with my cousins in the barn and they squirted milk at me from the cows 
udder. Then they got in trouble for they should have known better and I was 
little and just following their examples. IF ONLY THE ADULTS KNEW!! 

But God had other plans for our family. My grandparents, my Cracker, my 
mom, and my favorite uncle had to die. In between this, God had to let my 
cousins get married and have a life of their own and my aunt and father 
grow older and unable to do as they use to do.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love my wife and I am grateful to spend time with 
my wife and the animal farm everyday and over the holidays but you know 
what, NOTHING has turned out the way ‘I PLANNED IT’!


I planned as we sat together at the table as family when I was little and 
growing up that this was going to last forever. But God didn’t listen to my 
plans or consult with me. Have you ever felt that way? The comfort in all 
that has happened for me, that I pray to be in comfort for your lives, has 
been found in memories, in the Bible, and in prayer. 

Please open your Bible to Ezekiel 34:11-15.

“For thus says the Lord God: Behold I, I myself will search for 
my sheep, and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his 
flock when some of his sheep scattered, so will I seek out my 
sheep; and I will rescue them from all places where they have 
been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I 
will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from 
the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will 
feed them on the mountain of Israel, by the fountains, and all 
the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good 
pasture, and upon the mountain heights of Israel shall be their 
pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on 
fat pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself 
will be the shepherd of my sheep and I will make them lie down,
says the Lord God.

If that isn’t enough, Ezekiel 34:16

I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will 
bind up the crippled, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat 
and the strong I will feed them in justice.

It is normal to want to go back and relive Thanksgiving and the holidays for 
the good memories in ones life. The key is in knowing one has never been, 
is not, shall never be, alone…for God will always be there at his side and 
your side.

It is important for us all to remember that no matter where our emotions 
stray, no matter what pain we feel internally there is something to be 
thankful for. There is a shepherd watching over us and his name is God. 
God who does not give up on us; God who seeks us when we are lost.
God who is there when we are in pain, when we are searching in the 
fields of life for something. Even when we don’t know what we are 
searching for, we just know that something is missing.

You know maybe the question should not be how much, how much do
you love me? Maybe the question should be, how are you feeling today?
How are you feeling this holiday season? 

Is there a reason to be happy and thankful for having those special 
memories when many are raised on the streets or in orphanages never 
knowing what it means to be loved let alone to belong? To be happy and
thankful that we are not living in the Interfaith Hospitality Network, 
homeless, sick. Longing for a place to sleep in our bed, not a Sunday 
school classroom on a floor with others who are sick to have to get up 
and go out into the cold until you sleep another night in another church. 

To be happy and thankful for we have been loved and respected by another 
when many are in abusive relationships. When many never have happy 
memories to hold onto of their childhood, let alone their adulthood we have 
those memories in our lives.

If you are struggling, if you are in pain this holiday season, this Happy
Thanksgiving, there is something for us all, for you and I, to be thankful for. 
Sure, life may have not turned out the way you and I planned it to be but 
listen to the psalmists Psalm, A Psalm for the thank offering, 

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the lands! Serve the LORD 
with gladness! Come into his presence with gladness! Come 
into his presence with singing! Know that the LORD is God! It 
is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people and the 
sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and 
his court with praise! Give thanks to him, bless his name! For 
the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his
faithfulness to all generations.

Be true to what you are feeling and where you are this holiday season and 
know when you ask, How Much? God’s reply is I love you so much that, 
John 14: 18, I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you. 

Thank God for the memories of the time past, of those times of holiday
laughter and of being with family. Thank God for this day as we gather 
with family in worship. When so many are living isolated in their own 
self-imposed prisons, dying, little children having no one we are blessed. 

Let us hold on to our memories while living today, and let us Individually 
and collectively be thankful for what has been given to us.

“I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, 
but by me. If you had known me, you have known my Father also; 
henceforth you know him and have seen him.” John 14:6-7

My prayer this Thanksgiving Sunday for each of you, my family, is that if 
you are feeling like little Walter, if there is a memory that you cherish, hold 
onto that memory that nobody has but you. Hold onto your memory ever so 
tightly and proclaim with joy of celebration in Happy Thanksgiving.

Let us pray,

Father, in our pain, in our human nature we often struggle to find something 
to be happy about let alone thankful for. As we ask the question; How Much, 
how much do you love me, may we find comfort in our pain in knowing 
you love us so much that you are always watching over us. You love 
us so much that you feel our pain,  our tears,  our numbness, that 
you long to hold your son in your arms  as we long to hold our 
love ones in our arms once again.    In the words of the song, 
Call me I’ll be your friend;  you can lean on me.   Psalm 121: 
I lift my eyes to the hills.   From whence does my strength 
come? My help cometh from the Lord who made heaven 
and earth. He will not let your foot be moved, he who 
keeps you will not slumber nor sleep. The Lord is 
your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your 
right hand. The sun shall not smite you by 
day nor the moon by night. The LORD 
will keep you from all evil; he will 
keep your life. The LORD will 
keep your going out and 
your coming in from 
this time forth and 
forever more. 
Amen 





11/20/2005 JWM



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