As I write this message, our family is preparing to host a Thanksgiving dinner this week. As an immigrant from Mexico, celebrating Thanksgiving was not one of our traditions. However, because I was born in a border town, I grew up hearing about how the people at “el otro lado,” the US side, celebrated the “Dia del Pavo,” Turkey Day, and Black Friday. Consequently, my understanding of Thanksgiving Day was turkey and black Friday for many years.
I joined a Thanksgiving Dinner for the first time when I moved to North Carolina almost twenty years ago. It was with my uncle Hector’s family. What I appreciated the most from that dinner was when we paused to name at least one thing we were thankful to God from the year that just passed. Yes, the emphasis was on honoring and expressing our gratitude to God, and I loved it.
I was also impressed by how every single business was closed so we could focus on adopting a posture of gratitude. As you know, that has changed, and more and more, businesses only close for a few hours or not at all, making it difficult for people to really make time to pause and be thankful. As years passed, I learned more about the origins of Thanksgiving Day.
I learned how there is a romanticizing of the celebration’s origins, and I also learned that there is a dark and painful history behind Thanksgiving Day. I found a podcast and an article that can help us better understand the origins of Thanksgiving Day and hopefully expand our imagination about how we can redeem our Thanksgiving Celebrations and, more significantly, how we can make reparations to our Native American brothers and sisters.
Almighty God, with thankful hearts, we come to you, acknowledging that you are the source of our blessings. Help us redeem the ways we celebrate Thanksgiving Day. Help us focus on expressing our gratitude to you and one another. But also give us the courage to make reparations to those hurt by the myth of Thanksgiving Day. Amen.
A message from Bishop Connie Mitchell Shelton on taking time to honor the indigenous people of North Carolina and around the world this Thanksgiving.