A Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving

In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

- 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV)

Yesterday I celebrated Thanksgiving with my exchange student Lin and her boyfriend both who are Chinese.  They are warm and genuine and filled with love and goodwill. I enjoyed making all my traditional family dishes including homemade cranberry jelly.  I did miss my family, especially my mother and father who are now only with us in spirit.  After my celebration with Lin, I was invited into the family home of my new friend Lisa.  Lisa's mother remarked several times that their family celebration was a Norman Rockwell painting.  I had to agree.   The house was filled with joy and activity and there were numerous tables recently cleared from the Thanksgiving feast.  Their house was warm and inviting and filled with love and I felt instantly at home.

My walks around my neighborhood are my time to experience God.  The neighborhood is peaceful and beautiful and a contrast from the recent fear and riots in other areas of St. Louis.  As I walked this afternoon, I thought about Norman Rockwell and the love of life he depicted in his paintings.   But Norman Rockwell captured the American Dream based on faces found in a small town in the Fifties.  But now that the United States is more urban, more diverse, what artist now captures the essence of what it is to be American at Thanksgiving?  How do we create a unified vision and how would it be painted?   It seems that as the face of America becomes more diverse, we need to think about what binds us together.  Like Lin and her boyfriend, love is not isolated to a family that looks like a Norman Rockwell painting.  It is a universal value that knows no limits.  Our commonality is our freedom and our ability to form families and relationships while acknowledging our diversity.  

The painting in my mind, which is the essence of Norman Rockwell's vision, is of families of all races and nationalities surrounding a table spread with their traditional dishes while thanking God for all the blessings and gifts he has bestowed on us.

Let it Snow!

“Oh the weather outside is frightful

But the fire is so delightful

And since we've no place to go

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”

- Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne – Composers and Lyrists

As I left church this morning, snow was coming down steadily in perfect snowflakes.  I entered my "Passion Red" Volvo and turned on the radio station playing 24-hour Christmas music and reminisced about my childhood in the 1960s.   When I listen to the recordings of artists of that time including Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas," I remember the idealism of my childhood.  My parents, who were military, celebrated the Christmas season joyfully.  My mother decorated the house with fresh boughs of greenery done in bows of gold, silver, red and white.  Our tree was beautifully adorned and stood before a floor to ceiling set of windows.  My parents would part the curtains with the snow coming down just like the movie "White Christmas."  On Christmas Eve my parents went to Midnight Mass and when they returned rang the sleigh bells to announce the arrival of Santa.  I heard the bells and tried to be as quiet as possible to keep Santa from leaving.  My parents freed from the Great Depression, World War II and the Korean War saw the world with optimism and new beginnings.  They had faith in God that peace on Earth could prevail.  

There is a lot of discussion about whether a Christian God should be the center of a unified vision for our country.  I believe as a Christian, you lead through example not by lecturing.  But I have also come to believe that God should be discussed and honored in our country.   God, who is love, is a unifying force.  When we act out of love and serve others, we create God's Kingdom on Earth.

We need all members of our society to remember what it means to listen and serve.  This means often to sacrifice so that others can have a better life.  That is the root of Jesus' life and my parents’ generation.  My mother and father believed in leaving the world a better place than when they found it.  They knew what sacrifice really means and how to unify a country.  Evil is insidious because it creates fear and separates us from each other when we need courage to act as one through love.

Today's snow reminds me to create love and beauty to inspire others and to do so only if I am one person.

Let it snow. Let it snow. Let it snow.