Menu
The coming feast
The turkey is defrosting (safely) in the bottom of the fridge. The potatoes are in the cupboard, both the sweet and the russets. Green bean casserole is on the menu, and just for Aubrey, creamed corn. Cranberry sauce, stuffing, gravy, dinner rolls, real butter and two kinds of pie fill out the menu. It's looking a lot like Thanksgiving at my house. How about yours?
This is my favorite menu and one of three of the best days of the year. Somehow, Thanksgiving has escaped the commercialism that has befallen Christmas and Easter, and that makes it all the sweeter to savor. And savor, and savor and savor, as we enjoy turkey leftovers clear through Sunday (I hope). My favorite, bar none, is a turkey sandwich, on white bread with Miracle Whip. I will no doubt have one sometime late Thursday afternoon, once I can button my pants again.
I can't help but think of Thanksgiving when I read about the abundant life Jesus promised to bring. It is a feast indeed and, just think, it's only a foretaste of the banquet that is to come.
All of the good things of this life are just a foretaste of that which is to come. Our moments of purest joy are so fleeting here, it seems. No sooner do we realize that joy has come to our hearts that it begins to fade in the pressures of the day.
Thanksgiving is one of those rare and fleeting days. One day out of the year, spent on my part, peeling potatoes, stuffing dried and seasoned bread crumbs into a turkey carcass, burning the pumpkin pie, and somehow managing to get everything on the table while it is still hot, all to see it disappear before my eyes -- my carefully laid table utter chaos. I love it.
I cooked my first Thanksgiving dinner in September 1974. My sister-in-law's husband, Bobby, was in the Navy and was due to ship out within days on yet another six month tour on the USS Enterprise. So, I came up with the bright idea to celebrate Thanksgiving early, so he wouldn't have to miss it. We lived in a tiny house, with a tee-tiny kitchen, yet I attacked the project with gusto, having no idea how rare turkeys are in September, let alone all the other fixins'. Not to be undone, I finally gathered everything together, and made a mess of it. No pretty dishes. No fancy napkins, or centerpieces. None of the covered dishes everyone brings to Mom's for Thanksgiving. Just me and my tiny kitchen and my cheerleaders, Danny's sisters. I think one menu item was still warm enough to enjoy when served. Everything else was at a room temperature of about 110 degrees. (Whoever came up with the idea to have Thanksgiving on the last Thursday in November was wise indeed. It must have been 80 degrees outside.) Seating was indeed a challenge. Every available space, including the arms of chairs and the sofa, served as a perch as everyone balanced their plates on their knees. I wonder if Bobby ever thinks about that Thanksgiving Day? I know I'll never forget it.
I do a more passable job now. And even though they give me a lot of ribbing at the office, because I am such a stickler about food temps (I learned a lot during my years in school food service) I'll be back on the job Friday, a couple of pounds heavier, wearing my loosest slacks and an even looser top, ready to face the world once again.
A foretaste of that which is to come. A table heavy laden with everyone's favorite item on the menu. Familiar and much-loved faces around the table, and though Thursday some will be absent, at the feast that is to come, all will be present and accounted for. No loneliness, no sadness, every heart full of joy at the vision before them.
While we wait for that feast to come, make your final preparations for our Thanksgiving this year. There is yet time to run out for one more menu item, someone's favorite, and yet time to ponder the abundance of this day. There is yet time to stop, amidst the potato peels and the burnt pie crust cleverly buried under a layer of whipped topping, to bend the knee and to give thanks to the giver of all good things, for all that is before you and for the promises yet to come.
Happy Thanksgiving.
"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations" Psalm 100: 4, 5 (NIV)
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