A Joyful Thanks Giving with Adam's family

In a world of increasing globalization and folks move far away from family into new places and they face some dreary dynamics during festivals. During festivals, when people usually huddle together with their families, some of the products of globalization staying in alien places, like myself, end up falling through the cracks. My experience this time with Thanks Giving was pretty close to falling through the cracks. The family that I usually fellowship with during Thanks Giving was vacationing elsewhere. My other plan was to visit my old pal from college living in San Antonio. That too did not work out. 

So yesterday, with nowhere to celebrate Thanks Giving, I was looking back and wondering why I was finding myself falling through the cracks? I told myself that I was going to be cheerful and went to watch the newly released Disney's animation movie 'Tangled'. The movie is well-made. Coming out of the movie and riding back home, I still had the nagging feeling of falling through the cracks. I had to have the Thanks Giving meal somewhere. I figured that the only option I had was to celebrate Thanks Giving at some good restaurant in Houston and have a good Thanks Giving meal. So I made a mental note that I needed to get on Google to find a good Restaurant. 

On the way home, I stopped at the chapel to pray. I think God’s answer to my wonderment was, “Well Dude, life has many ‘seasons’. You are in one. There are advantages and disadvantaged in each ‘season’. You are now experiencing one of the few disadvantage of single life, so don’t sulk. Be of good cheer”. I was happy again. After all, single life does have advantages - I wanted to see ‘Tangled’ and in 10 mins I was in the theatre getting movie tickets, how many family guys can do it just like that? :P Every advantage in life has an equal and opposite disadvantage (on a side note, when one is Redeemed, the disadvantages workout for the ultimate good Rom 8:28).

Back home, I flipped open my laptop and Facebook stared back at me. I stared back at it like at an old friend who can’t really help. Facebook helps me make friends and keep friendships alive. Facebook can be everything cool, but it can't help my feeling of falling through the cracks, can it? No. Just then I saw the chat bar 'blinking' and it was my friend from Church, Adam. I thought, "Well this is unusual, why would Adam try to chat on Fb when we just met each other a couple of days earlier?” Anyways, I replied ‘Hey, Adam” and he asked me if I had seen the email he had sent. I checked yahoo and found his email asking me if I had plans for Thanks Giving. I said, ‘No’. He invited me to go with him to his parents place to celebrate Thanks Giving. Wow! the crack just closed beneath my feet. I was going to have a real Thanks Giving! Thank God!, I thought. I didn’t have to google a restaurant after all. Hmmmm… Facebook is kind of helps doesn’t it, of course Yahoo too!

I am glad I have Adam for a thoughtful friend. Adam is a cool chap who brings with him a contagious cheeriness and spreads it around freely. Within 10 seconds of getting into a group, he’ll have someone laughing over his funny and timely quips. He is a uniquely gifted guy.

So today morning I was up and ready by 10:00 AM. Adam picked me up on the way to his parent’s place. When I met his Mom and Sister, I knew where he got his sense of humor from. His Mom and Sister had loads of it that even his Sister’s dog was infected with cheer. Even the sight of dogs on the television excited him. I have never seen a dog wag its tail at dogs in the television. That was the first time in my life, I witnessed something worthy of a youtube video. Soon we had the extended family come in, and folks from Adam’s Mom’s and Step-Dad’s Church as well. We were a total of 16 people. One thing Adam posts on facebook more than any other topic is about his runs around memorial. When I met his family, I understood why it was so. One topic that got everyone of them enthused was running. I wasn't conversant on topics of running, but it was fascinating to watch their enthusiasm. Another aspect that was special about Adam's family was how they all did work almost all the time and cracked jokes and had fun. It was great just to be in the midst of people of good cheer, especially on Thanks Giving day. Gosh! I can’t imagine what I would have done in a restaurant, sitting alone. Thank God I didn’t have to.

Oh, I love the Thanks Giving meal. Every year, black Friday onwards, I look forward to the next Thanks Giving meal. My plate had Turkey, mashed potato, sweet potato, casserole beans, creamy carrots, cranberry sauce, garlic biscuit and a side that is made with bread, vegetables and chicken broth. I start with Turkey and then have a little potato and then beans and then bread and biscuit and then carrots and cranberry and then I’ll come back to the Turkey and repeat loop until plate is empty. And then go back for seconds… My taste buds tickle even now…

Oh, do I have to wait for another year for my next Thanks Giving meal? Yeah, I guess… God made life to be lived in ‘seasons’. One has to wait if one needs anything ‘special’. If I wanted, I could go to some restaurant right now and have a Thanks Giving meal, but if I did that then when the real festivities of Thanks Giving comes, I think it wouldn’t be as special anymore. It is important to wait for God’s timing on seasons, and not preempt Him, so that when the new ‘season’ turns up, it would really be special.

Speaking about something being 'special'... There is something special about festive foods. Does the food give the festivities the special flavor or is it the festive spirits that give food a brilliant taste and a sense of fulfillment? I think my Thanks Giving meal was tasty because of the hard work done by the Reeds, Adam’s Mom and Step-Dad. The food was fulfilling and special because of the festive spirits of people sharing the meal.

God make human beings in such a way that human beings can cherish special occasions. These occasions do not have survival value of their own, but they give value for survival. For example, if I had had my Thanks Giving meal in a restaurant I wouldn’t have died or anything, I would still have survived through the weekend, but it wouldn’t have been as meaningful. On the other hand when I have my Thanks Giving meal with a family, it gets to have a special meaning because of the thoughtfulness and love and affection that is extended to one who falls through the cracks. Such meaning gives value to survival itself. The moment such special occasions cease to be, ‘bare’ survival may not be valuable anymore.

So, what really makes Thanks Giving special is not just the sensation the nerve endings have when the turkey touches the taste buds. Rather, what makes Thanks Giving special and even gives the Turkey its flavor is the relationships that are built around this special meal. If I had had the same meal in a Restaurant, it would have had the same taste, but not the same meaning. It wouldn’t have been special at all. At the end of the day, it is the relationships that matter. What made my Thanks Giving special was being with the cheerful family of my friend Adam - his sweet Mom, pretty Sister, affable Step-Dad, most lively Uncle & Aunt, jovially conversant Step-Dad’s Mom and Pop and the ebullient family from Church. I am thankful to God for having  Adam for a friend. I am thankful to God for putting it into Adam’s heart to invite me over. I am Thankful to God that even half-way across the world, I have folks to celebrate Thanks Giving with.