Paul N. Walker
CEC Thanksgiving 2013
“Thanksgiving and the Human Family”
Virginians, being Virginians, like to claim that the first Thanksgiving took place
not at Plymouth Rock, but at Berkley Plantation in Virginia in 1619. The ships that
arrived from England had a charter that required that the day of arrival be observed
yearly as a "day of thanksgiving" to God.
"We ordaine that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantacon in
the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually keept holy as a day of thanksgiving
to Almighty God.” So, on that first day on Virginia soil by the James River, Captain
John Woodleaf held the first service of thanksgiving. We carry on this tradition at
Christ Church this morning!
Thanksgiving, of course, has become an annual celebration of food and family.
Many families have longstanding traditions. When I was I child, my family traveled
every Thanksgiving from Richmond to the Eastern Shore of Virginia, where both my
parents had grown up. The undulating rhythm of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge brings
back the anticipation of arrival. We rushed to get out of the house, because my Aunt
Mary Hamilton held a High Noon Champagne Cocktail Party for all her family and
friends on the Shore. This part of the day became more interesting to me as I
became an older teenager.
After the friends had departed, we gathered together for the meal. Sometimes we
ate at Winona, my Uncle Herman’s home overlooking Hungars Creek. Winona was
built in the late 1600’s, just 60 or so years after Captain Woodleaf’s first
Thanksgiving service. Aunts and great aunts, uncles and great uncles, cousins and
second cousins were seated around the table (or the children’s table) together.
Uncle Jim always said the blessing. Neenie’s Pecan Pie always finished the feast.
And, the meal was always followed by the annual backyard football game.
There was much that was wonderful about our Thanksgiving gatherings. And yet,
no family is immune to the difficulties that beset us all. Divorce, disease, death and
estrangement disrupt even the most hallowed traditions. My own parents divorced
after I graduated from college. There are cousins I haven’t seen in years. I officiated
at my Uncle Jim’s funeral 2 years ago. Such is the nature of life.
Families break apart because people are broken. Most families are no different
than this priceless description of William Faulkner’s family by his niece, Dean
Faulkner Wells. “Over the generations my family can claim nearly every psychological
aberration: narcissism and nymphomania, alcoholism and anorexia, agoraphobia,
manic depression, paranoid schizophrenia. There have been thieves, adulterers,
sociopaths, killers, racists, liars, and folks suffering from panic attacks and real bad
tempers, though to the best of my knowledge we’ve never had a barn burner or a
preacher.”
Sounds like my family and I would guess, your family, although now my family
does have a preacher. But Dean Faulkner Wells is just describing the human family.
We’re pretty much all the same. Just think about God’s family as described in the
Bible. Noah was a drunk, Jacob was a liar, Rahab was a prostitute, David had an
affair and was a murderer, Elijah was suicidal, and the Samaritan woman was
divorced 5 times and shacking up with her current boyfriend!
So on this “day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God,” no matter what permutation of
friends or family we find ourselves in, what old traditions we maintain or what new
ones we forge, or whether we’ve decided to bypass the whole affair and enjoy a
quiet day alone, we might pause to give thanks that we are a human family, all
connected to one another. And the comforting news is this: the God to whom we
give thanks is the God who accepts us exactly as we are.
This, of course, is because of Jesus Christ who is, as we read in today’s gospel, the
true bread from heaven, which gives life to the world. He died for our sins that we
might be totally accepted as we are. His forgiving grace will outlast any tradition and
is stronger than any divorce, disease, death or estrangement. And even if you are
alone today, or feel alone in the midst of difficulty, you are not alone. He is with you.
I’ll close with a prayer from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. It’s called a
Prayer for the Human Family.
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
through your Son: Look
with compassion on the whole
human family; take away the arrogance and hatred
which
infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
unite us in bonds of
love; and work through our struggle and
confusion to accomplish your purposes on
earth; that, in
your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
harmony
around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
our Lord.
Amen and Happy Thanksgiving.