Rev. James L. Snyder, D.Litt
Let me make it clear right up front that Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I admit I am not too fond of many holidays. Can a week go by without some holiday that shuts down everybody?
I celebrated Veteran’s Day, for example, on Sunday and the next day I went to the bank and discovered the bank was celebrating Veteran’s Day on Monday. Don’t they know what day it is? I trust these people with my money?
Of all the holidays we have, Thanksgiving is high on my list. I used to have a high regard for my birthday but so many of them have come that I do not like them anymore. I am ready to cancel that holiday. My birthday only means I am one year older and not one whit wiser.
I am not thinking just about the scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner. Okay, maybe I am, a little. Down through the years, I have been great fraternity buddies with eating. We have bonded so great throughout the years that even now that bonding is beginning to show.
I like Thanksgiving, and so I am a little confused about these Sanity Challenged Buffoons who are allergic to the word “Thanksgiving.” They want to use names like, “Turkey Day,” and the latest one “T-Day.” What the “T” stands for is anybody’s guess. I know what “D-Day” stands for but all the gray matter has leaked out of my skull trying to figure out what “T-Day” stands for.
Given the rationality of these purveyors of insanity, I can only guess.
Looking at what is happening to this great holiday, I have uncovered a con so convert that most people do not know it is going on. I call it the great Thanksgiving con. This is especially true for those who call it Turkey Day.
First off, everybody says nice things about the turkey. The more the turkey struts, the more the compliments flow his way. What the turkey does not know is that when these “Turkey Day” people are looking at the turkey they are also licking their lips. It is not the beautiful feathers that interest them. It is not the way the turkey proudly struts back and forth. The frame these people want to see the turkey in is a roasting pan.
They want to get rid of all those feathers that the turkey is so proud of and strip him bare so that he fits nicely in the roasting pan.
The last few weeks of the turkey’s life are rather remarkable. These people will give the turkey everything it wants. More food than the turkey can gobble up. What the turkey does not know is that there is a destiny in store for him. With all the attention paid him, he has the idea that everybody appreciates him for his looks.
If this turkey would ever spend an evening watching television with his human host, he would gather the idea that the most important thing in all the world is how you look. Looking into the mirror the turkey is quite proud of what he sees. He assumes that what he sees looking in the mirror is what his human host sees when they look at him.
How wrong can a turkey be?
The con begins to unfold. Rumors are flying about that there is a great banquet being prepared in his honor. Any turkey would be proud of this kind of development and look forward to being the guest of honor.
In fact, as the turkey struts back-and-forth in front of his human hosts, he hears them saying, “Won’t that turkey look good at our dinner table?” Whose head wouldn’t turn hearing this kind of a compliment?
What the turkey does not know is that being a guest at a dinner table is a one-time event for a creature like himself. Any turkey worth his feathers does not think beyond this great feast being held in his honor.
I can imagine the gobble back in the turkey pen with the other turkeys. This great big, good-looking turkey, is telling all the others how important he is on the other side of the fence. Being the kind of turkey that he is, his gobble wins over the admiration of the other turkeys.
“I’m so special,” the turkey gobbles to his inferiors, “that those humans are having a special banquet and I am the special guest of honor.” The rest of the turkeys are ooohing in his direction for they never seen anyone quite as special as this turkey.
The fatal day arrives. People come for the turkey and the rest of the turkeys have gathered around giving him a special turkey sendoff. They cannot wait to hear his report when he gets back from the special banquet.
I say this is a con to beat all cons. Wrong messages are being sent to the turkey population. Thinking they are the guest of honor, they turn out to be the main dish on the banquet table.
This is why I am against the term “Turkey Day.” It sends the wrong message. The focus around our table on this special occasion will not be the turkey but rather giving thanks to God who has been so good to us.
“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name” (Psalms 100:4 KJV).
Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 1-866-552-2543 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. His web site is www.jamessnyderministries.com.
