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.