Maybe it is just me (and some times it is), but has anyone ever noticed that our historical "Christian" holidays have been, over the past few decades, usurped by make-believe gift-giving placeholders?
Yes, I would be referring to good ol' jolly Santa Claus, and that cute little Easter bunny. What were once events to glorify the Son of God in celebrating His birth, and then His death and resurrection, are now replaced (at least in our Western culture) by materialistic idols resplendent in food, candy, and mass consumer purchasing.
Which leads me to this thought: What about Thanksgiving? Now obviously Thanksgiving is not a Christian holiday... but rather a country's holiday in historical celebration and remembrance. But hey, even so, why don't we have an over sized Turkey (called Timmy) doling out gifts of candy-coated turkey, candy-covered pumpkin squares, and chocolate-dipped stuffing? In our society's ethos of mass-consumerism, why is it that some savvy advertising company has not picked up on this money-making market just waiting to happen?
Sure, food sales go up, but there are no toys; no excess candy; no Hallmark cards. Are you starting to see something odd here? We have two important events, Christmas and Easter, Christian holidays of remembrance, which have been overtaken (or I could say re-taken) by materialistic revelry. The original meaning for these holidays has been lost on many. Regarding Thanksgiving, however, the original concept has stayed the course. Timmy the Turkey has not been unleashed on our society, and we do not have another holiday dedicated to spending loads of money to satisfy our materialism gods.
Again, this may be just me, but I would posit that we live in an unseen spiritual conflict: much goes on above and beyond our heads that we do not see, but in which we actively participate and live in each day. There are forces beyond which we cannot sense, see, nor smell, and they are actively fighting against the embodiment of the established Christian church (and by "church" I don't mean the buildings in which we see people enter and leave every Sunday, but the actual body of believers that composes the true Christian faith). We are living in a war here folks, a war which is unseen but still felt.
And this is why, as Thanksgiving is not a Christian holiday, we do not see the same materialistic tendencies overtaking the founding beliefs, as we do Christmas and Easter. Them's my two cents, anyway. I may be wrong.... I haven't given this any thought beyond typing these words on this page. At the very least, it offers an interesting conversation topic across the Thanksgiving table as you gravey-ily bite into Timmy the Turkey's holiday leavings.
