Thinking About Thanksgiving

 I have been thinking a lot about Thanksgiving as I do every year.

One of the fun parts about Thanksgiving is recalling the chaos and love surrounding the annual dinner at my grandparents home on 23rd Avenue in the Lewisdale community in West Hyattsville.  

My beloved Grandmother Gross was a certified Kitchen Martyr.  She worked hard to present a proper table and made sure we all knew it.  The meal included fresh mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans (plain, before the famous soup casserole entered our lives), and sauerkraut - since Grandma was a Baltimore girl.  The setting was finished off by a four-section cut-glass dish piled with celery, carrot sticks, olives, and gherkin pickles.  Grandma knew how to plan a meal and set the table.

The Martyr part usually began with her enlisting my Grandfather's help with the words "John, must I do everything for this meal - would you PLEASE ask people what they want to drink!"  You see, the beverage call was important in our house and usually included ice water and coffee.  Nothing stronger, please - we're Methodists.  My mother was next to be enlisted, usually with a command to see what my brother Warner was up to: "EDEE, PLEASE CHECK ON WARNER - I AM STUCK IN THE KITCHEN!"

The last round of Grandma's motivational leadership was reserved for my grandfather.  All serving dishes were passed clockwise until they reached Pop at the head of the table.  This required one last annual recital: "JOHN, why do the dishes always stop at YOUR END OF THE TABLE?  Would you please pass the (dish of concern) to your left!"

Before you think I am offering stories at the expense of my late Grandmother Gross, I assure you that I am thankful for her annual efforts to gather our extended family, nourish our bodies with good food, and fill our hearts with her love.

On a more serious note, I will also share that for the first 12-15 years of my life, the annual Thanksgiving dinner was prepared AFTER CHURCH on Thanksgiving!   

I have memories of the 10:00 a.m. church service on Thanksgiving Day at Ager Road Church in Hyattsville.  The 420-seat sanctuary was full and all choirs participated.  I only remember one sermon by Rev. Purnell that focused on "Five Kernels of Corn" because there was a packet of said kernels attached to each bulletin.  And then there was the year that one of the children's choir members threw up on his robe while the choir was singing.

My question is: What happened to the tradition of going to church ON Thanksgiving?  I admit I cannot remember when Ager Road Church transitioned from a full house on Thanksgiving to a sparsely attended Thanksgiving Eve service on the night before.

When Connie was still serving as pastor at a local church, she would have a Thanksgiving Eve service.  I recall one choir member who would excuse herself from attending each year because Wednesday night was when she baked her pies for the Thanksgiving meal.

More recently, when my wife Connie and I would come to the beach for Thanksgiving we could not even find a Thanksgiving Eve service at a local church.

Finally, on Sunday, the pastor at the church we currently attend referred to Thanksgiving as a "civil holiday," meaning not religious, as if it was in the same holiday class as President's Day.

In spite of my nostalgia for Thanksgiving on 23rd Ave. and my longing for the return to some form of well-attend, formal worship on Thanksgiving Day, I have much to be thankful for.  I am blessed with a loving wife and extended family, good health, a nice home, and a God who loves me.

I will keep looking for a church that is open for worship on Thanksgiving Day - or Thanksgiving Eve, and invite you to do the same. 

Happy Thanksgiving!