SOMEWHERE between the turkey and the stuffing and the parades and the football games, we are in peril of losing the meaning of this day.
Over the years, Thanksgiving has become less and less about giving thanks for our blessings, perhaps because we have so many that we take them for granted. Instead, this is a eating holiday and a commercial holiday — an excuse to eat too much and the opening gun for the Christmas shopping season.
But in Emporia, the heart of the holiday still beats strongly around many family tables and most strongly at the Church of Christ. The members of the congregation in the little brick building at 12th Avenue and Neosho Street have never lost sight of the purpose of the day — to give thanks for the blessings of life and the abundance of the harvest.
The proper way to give thanks for abundance is not to overindulge, but to share. That is what the church does today, as it has every Thanksgiving for years.
Thanksgiving is not a relaxing holiday for many members of the church. They have been busy for days preparing the community dinner, and they will be busy serving it today to all who care to join them. The meal is open to all — the hungry, the homeless, travelers far from home and those Emporians who are simply lonely on what is supposed to be a day of shared joy. People who cannot get to the church can call and have a meal delivered.
So today, in the prayers around the family table, add thanks for the good people of Church of Christ, who know how to share their blessings.