This year, for the first time in history, Thanksgiving and Chanukah coincides. What a rare occasion it is, indeed!
Both Thanksgiving and Chanukah are about giving thanks to
God for freedom. The former celebrates religious and political freedom in the
New World, North America, away from persecution in Europe in 1620. The latter
celebrates the religious freedom and political sovereignty of the Jews,
redeemed from the Greek in 166 BC.
When the Pilgrims first celebrated Thanksgiving, they did
not have much. Neither the Jews when they fought back for Jerusalem from the
Greek invaders. But, both Pilgrims and the Jews were grateful for whatever they
had with them respectively – though it was not much at all.
When the Jews redeemed Jerusalem, they only had a scant
amount of oil left. It was barely to light a candelabrum for just one day. But,
the it kept burning for eight day miraculously. Because of this, during
Chanukah, the Jews light eight candles of the menorah one candle per day every
night during this 8-day celebration, taking the light candle fire from the
shammash.
The spirit of Chanukah teaches that merciful God provide us
just enough – no matter how little what we have may seem. Not only that, it
also reminds us that what God provides is enough to share, given how a small
candle light of the shammash can be distributed to eight candles of the
menorah, while burning for 8 days.
To Christians, this miracle story behind the Chanukah
menorah invokes the miracle of Jesus feeding the hungry multitude, about 5,500
men plus women and children, out of only
5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Just as the scant amount of oil left only to burn
a candle for a day when the Jews redeemed Jerusalem from the Greeks, what Jesus
and his disciples had was a tiny amount of food, barely to feed themselves.
But, as the oil kept burning way longer than how long the Jews had thought, the
small amount of bread and fish were able to be distributed to and satisfy the
everybody in the hungry crowd. And, there still were some leftovers to fill up
12 baskets (Luke 9:10-17; Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:32-44; John 6:5-13).
I am sure the Jews were anxious about the amount of oil they
had because keeping the candle burning is very important to them. They
were are not supposed to run out of the
oil for burning candles. But, God sure provided enough. And, they are always
thankful to God for His care.
Likewise, though what Jesus and his disciples were able to
find was a very small amount of food, Jesus nevertheless gave thanks and broke
them for distribution (i.e. Luke 9:16).
There is a sense of appreciation for whatever they had in
these stories – the story about the oil upon the redemption of Jerusalem in 166
BC and Jesus feeding the hungry multitude.
Neither the Jews nor
Jesus asked for more – even though what they had did not appear to be enough to
meet their needs. They just thanked God and trusted God’s care. And, their
needs were met.
When the Pilgrim came to the Plymouth Rock in New England,
still a land of the Native Americans, after a harsh voyage across the stormy
cold Atlantic Ocean in 1620, in search of freedom from religious persecution in
Europe, they barely had anything to eat. They were on the verge of starvation
to death. But, it was the Native Americans in New England, who responded with
compassion to these starving new comers, and invited them to their traditional
thanksgiving festival. Because of this, the Pilgrim did not perish and were
able to find themselves in the freedom they had longed for. And, they gave
thanks to God for this. Truly, God’s mercy worked through the compassion of the
Native Americans.
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| "Pilgrims Landing" by Edward Percy Moran |
Being pious Christians, I am sure, that the Pilgrim did not
ask God for more. They were just so grateful for having their lives spared and
being provided with means to survive in their newly found land by the Native
Americans. But, as time went by, the
Pilgrim seemed to have lost their original sense of gratitude, soon gave it to
greed, given how American history has turned.
The way Thanksgiving has been celebrated in the United
States hardly recalls how compassionate and kind the Native Americans were in
saving the lives of the starving Pilgrims by sharing their harvests, similar to
how Jesus fed the hungry multitude by sharing what he found. It seems as if the
way Thanksgiving has been in the US is all about the Pilgrim and their
“God”. In other words, the Thanksgiving
in the US reminds how the Pilgrims have “hijacked” the Native American
tradition of giving thanks for the harvest and ignored how God’s mercy worked
through the compassion of the Native Americans.
To keep the American Thanksgiving authentic, the celebration
must honor the Native Americans, who saved the starving Pilgrim. If possible,
it is more authentic to be hosted by a Native American tribal elder or chief,
as the very first Thanksgiving festival was. But, how often do we encounter real
American Thanksgiving celebrations hosted by full-blooded Native Americans?
Have you thought what happened to the original Thanksgiving
that the Pilgrims were so grateful for?
Not only the Pilgrims returned
their “thanks” for the Native Americans’ life-saving kind favor by robbing
their lands and lives but also by “plagiarizing “ the Native American tradition
by making it as if theirs. What is further worse is that the American
Thanksgiving in modern years even makes a misleading impression – as if it were
the Pilgrim who fed hungry Native Americans.
It is important to reflect the
lost tradition of the original American Thanksgiving and how the hypocrisy of
the Pilgrims, as well as their descendants, have twisted this tradition as it
has been in recent years.
*****
The way Thanksgiving has been observed in the United States
reflects how our sense of gratitude often fails and easily gives its way to greed.
From a psychospiritual perspective, this is due to a lack of discipline to keep
our sense of gratitude.
In a way, this is how psychological conditioning –
adaptation works. Once we become so used to – become accustomed to – become
conditioned to a satisfactory condition, our sense of gratitude tends to become
dull. To prevent this tendency, we need conscious efforts to maintain our sense
of gratitude.
Once we become comfortable, there is always danger of losing
our sense of gratitude. It is when we begin to lose a sense of poverty, which
also spiritually symbolizes humility.
Throughout the Gospels, the rich are figuratively portrayed as the
arrogant, who underestimate God’s power (i.e. Luke 16:19-31) and are less
appreciative of God’s mercy, while the poor are humble and totally trust God
(i.e. Luke 20:45-21:4).
Indeed, Jesus
said, “Blessed are you who are poor, for
yours is the kingdom of God”(Luke 6:20). And, in Matthew’s Gospel, what
corresponds to this is, “Blessed are the
poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven(Matthew 5:3). And, St.
Chrysostom and St. Leo the Great have explained that “the poor in spirit” means
humility. Thus, in Jesus’ teaching, the humility is figuratively expressed as
poverty.
Jesus made it clear figuratively with these words that
material richness keeps us from salvation because it means a loss of humility: “And Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly
I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I
say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than
for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”(Matthew 19:23-24).
To put this in a Buddhist term, the poverty in Jesus’
teaching means having no attachment. No attachment also means no greed,
indicating spiritual discipline to control desire.
Now, where in today’s Thanksgiving is the sense of humility
that the Pilgrims may have exhibited when they were saved by the Native
Americans, upon coming to Plymouth Rock, starving?
Today, Thanksgiving in America is being hijacked by
commercialism – reflecting greed bred out of material saturation.
There has been far more material wealth concentrated in the United
States than any other nations on earth. For instance, if you see how material
wealth is distributed in the world, you notice that there is far more material
wealth concentrated on in the United States than any other nations. And, the
Americans are not yet satisfied – though they are far fare better off than
those in other parts of the world. And, the way American Thanksgiving has been
reflects this.
On Thanksgiving Day, many Americans eat far more than they
need. After filling their stomach more than full, they fill their garbage bags
with still-edible leftover food from Thanksgiving meal. Then, it’s about
shopping and shopping.
Until recent years, at least, stores were closed on
Thanksgiving to observe the spirit of the holiday. But, it is now gone as more
and more stores are open even on Thanksgiving day – and more and more Americans
go shopping on Thanksgiving day fanatically.
So, where is our humble reflection of the original
Thanksgiving that the Pilgrims were invited by the Native Americans?
It is gone and replaced by gluttony and the fanaticizing
commercialism, phenomenon of the lost humility, hijacked by uncontrollable
greed. This is what is behind the
killing among Thanksgiving Day and Post-Thanksgiving (Black Friday) shopping
frenzy.
If you are authentic Christian – if you are truly spiritual,
valuing humility and despise greed and gluttony, honors the spirit of
gratefulness in the original American Thanksgiving festival, to which the
starving Pilgrims were invited, then, you rather find Thanksgiving as a holiday
of frugality to show your humility and gratefulness to God. And, you do
everything you can to keep Thanksgiving from greed and gluttony as you exercise
your spiritual disciplines and control your desire – perhaps as St. Ignatius of
Loyola did with Suscipe:
Receive, O Lord,
all my liberty. Take my memory, my understanding, and my entire will.
Whatsoever I have or hold, You have given me; I give it all back to You and
surrender it wholly to be governed by your will. Give me only your love and
your grace, and I am rich enough and ask for nothing more. Spiritual Exercises 234.
Before St. Ignatius pray with these words for the spiritual disciplines
through the Spiritual Exercises, St. Paul put these words upon heeding the
words of Jesus:
And He has said to me,
"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness."
Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the
power of Christ may dwell in me. (2
Corinthians 12:9)
St. Paul shows with
these words that how important the poverty (weakness) is as it is humility, in
which the power of Christ is perfected through his grace. And, grace poured upon
us suffices, desiring no more, while thanking God for the grace – unconditional
gift that He has provided.
This is the bottom line of beatitude – the blessedness, as
Jesus reflected in Matthew 5:3-12 and Luke 6:20-22.
The spirit of the original American Thanksgiving is about
being thankful for what we have – no matter how much we have or how little we
have. The last thing we want on this day is to want more and to have more,
desiring what we don’t have.
So, why do we have to stimulate our weakness of greed for eating
far more than the stomach can handle and keeping stores open, with crazy sales
campaign?
Psychologically, such phenomena of material cravings are
indication of insecurity. It means a fragility of ego due to being unable to
trust God and His providence….not being able to be like the poor widow who
offered all she had to God (Luke 20:45-21:4 ) and the poor widow who trusted
God’s servant, Elijah, and offered everything she had ( 1 Kings 17:7-16). But,
through our spiritual disciplines, we can fight against our tendency of craving
and material attachment. It means boosting our trust in God and His mercy on
us. Then, we are not so worried about how much we have. Rather, our sense of
gratitude grows more, recognizing even small thing to be thankful for, being
able to embrace the poverty as the virtue of humility.
As this Thanksgiving coincides with the first day of
Chanukah, let us begin our spiritual battle against greed and material
attachment in order to redeem the lost original American Thanksgiving – as the
Jews, led by Judas Maccabeus heroism, redeemed Jerusalem from the Greek
intruders.
The first reading for Thanksgiving Day Mass (in the US)
calls us to redeem the humility and gratitude in the original Thanksgiving:
And now, bless the God
of all,
who has done wondrous things on earth;
Who fosters people’s growth from their mother’s womb,
and fashions them according to his will!
May he grant you joy of heart
and may peace abide among you;
May his goodness toward us endure in Israel
to deliver us in our days. (Sirach 50:22-24)
who has done wondrous things on earth;
Who fosters people’s growth from their mother’s womb,
and fashions them according to his will!
May he grant you joy of heart
and may peace abide among you;
May his goodness toward us endure in Israel
to deliver us in our days. (Sirach 50:22-24)
As the Native Americans thanked the Creator who provide
their harvests, we thank God, who is the Creator and provides for us with what
we need. And, it is enough as it sustains us.
Let us not allow greed and attachment to cloud our sense of
humility and gratitude. Otherwise, we would become the lepers, who never
thanked Jesus even though he healed them, in the Thanksgiving Day Gospel
reading (Luke 17:11-19). As we keep
fighting the spiritual intruders, such as greed and attachment, we can keep our
sense of gratitude and humility, always express our thanks to God, as the
thankful leper did in the Gospel story.
As Jesus continued his journey to
Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten persons with leprosy met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying,
“Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”
And when he saw them, he said,
“Go show yourselves to the priests.”
As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
“Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”
Then he said to him, “Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you.” (Luke 17:11-19)
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten persons with leprosy met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying,
“Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”
And when he saw them, he said,
“Go show yourselves to the priests.”
As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
“Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”
Then he said to him, “Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you.” (Luke 17:11-19)
As we let our sense of gratitude and humility give its
way to greed and attachment, not only we will become like the nine lepers, who
never thanked in the above Gospel story, but also become like the Pilgrims, who
robbed the lands and lives of the Native Americans, who saved their lives and
invited to their humble Thanksgiving festival.
In Sirach 51:1-12, there is a canticle of
thanksgiving. And, it is rather suitable to appreciate the humble spirit of
gratitude to mark true Thanksgiving:
I give you thanks, O Lord and King;
I praise you as my God and Savior.
I give you thanks,
for you have helped me and protected me.
You have rescued me from death,
from dangerous lies and slander.
You helped me when no one else would;
in your great mercy you saved me
from the many troubles I have known:
from the glaring hatred of my enemies,
who wanted to put an end to my life;
4 from suffocation in oppressive smoke
rising from fires that I did not light;
from death itself;
from vicious slander reported to the king.
I was once brought face-to-face with death;
enemies surrounded me everywhere.
I looked for someone to help me,
but there was no one there.
But then, O Lord, I remembered how merciful you are
and what you had done in times past.
I remembered that you rescue those who rely on you,
that you save them from their enemies.
Then from here on earth I prayed to you
to rescue me from death.
I prayed,
O Lord, you are my father;
do not abandon me to my troubles
when I am helpless against arrogant enemies.
I praise you as my God and Savior.
I give you thanks,
for you have helped me and protected me.
You have rescued me from death,
from dangerous lies and slander.
You helped me when no one else would;
in your great mercy you saved me
from the many troubles I have known:
from the glaring hatred of my enemies,
who wanted to put an end to my life;
4 from suffocation in oppressive smoke
rising from fires that I did not light;
from death itself;
from vicious slander reported to the king.
I was once brought face-to-face with death;
enemies surrounded me everywhere.
I looked for someone to help me,
but there was no one there.
But then, O Lord, I remembered how merciful you are
and what you had done in times past.
I remembered that you rescue those who rely on you,
that you save them from their enemies.
Then from here on earth I prayed to you
to rescue me from death.
I prayed,
O Lord, you are my father;
do not abandon me to my troubles
when I am helpless against arrogant enemies.
I will always praise you
and sing hymns of thanksgiving.
You answered my prayer,
and saved me from the threat of destruction.
And so I thank you and praise you.
O Lord, I praise you!
and sing hymns of thanksgiving.
You answered my prayer,
and saved me from the threat of destruction.
And so I thank you and praise you.
O Lord, I praise you!
Though the Book of Sirach in the Old Testament ends
here, the original Hebrew text contains the below praises, following the above:
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is
good, for his mercy endures forever;
Give thanks to the God of glory,
for his mercy endures forever;
Give thanks to the guardian of
Israel, for his mercy endures forever;
Give thanks to the creator of the
universe, for his mercy endures forever;
Give thanks to the redeemer of
Israel, for his mercy endures forever;
Give thanks to him who gathers the
dispersed of Israel, for his mercy endures forever;
Give thanks to him who builds his
city and his sanctuary, for his mercy endures forever;
Give thanks to him who makes a horn
to sprout forth, for the house of David, for his mercy endures forever;
Give thanks to him who has chosen
for his priests the sons of Zadok, for his mercy endures forever;
Give thanks to the shield of
Abraham, for his mercy endures forever;
Give thanks to the rock of Isaac,
for his mercy endures forever;
Given thanks to the mighty one of
Jacob, for his mercy endures forever;
Give thanks to him who has chosen
Zion, for his mercy endures forever;
Give thanks to the king over kings
of kings, for his mercy endures forever;
He has lifted up the horn of his
people, be this his praise from all his faithful ones.
From the children of Israel, the people close to him. Alleluia!
May we redeem the lost original Thanksgiving from greed, gluttony, and
other forms of attachment, as Judas Maccabeus redeemed Jerusalem from the
Greeks, by keeping up with our spiritual disciplines and keeping our thanks and
praises to God.
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