By Josh Noem and Melissa Florer-Bixler
The following is a transcript of an e-mail correspondence between Melissa Florer-Bixler of the Moreau Center for Service and Leadership and Josh Noem of Campus Ministry.
Josh: Hey Melissa, since you come from the Mennonite tradition and I'm a cradle Catholic, I was thinking it might be insightful to ask you about Thanksgiving. How should a Christian view Thanksgiving? We Catholics don't have a special Mass for Thanksgiving or any special prayers for Thanksgiving. I'd even say that a good Catholic could simply forget about the holiday and it wouldn't even be considered a venial sin. What do you think about that?
Melissa: Same for us in terms of Thanksgiving in the service. But lots of Mennonites still celebrate Turkey Day, as do Catholics. In a lot of ways it's a great holiday. So much of the Christian story is there: reconciliation, communal meal, salvation (from starvation) and encounter with Other. Wouldn't be amazing if Thanksgiving had more of that? What if every Thanksgiving Christians of the U.S. had a meal with our political enemies? What if Thanksgiving was actually an occasion for confession and renewal?
Josh: hmmm. That's a novel idea. In spiritual terms, we could actually use Thanksgiving for gratitude, which is really an outpouring of self. All of the spiritual masters of the Christian tradition point to gratitude as a fundamental disposition because it is a recognition that everything comes from God.
Yet, Thanksgiving today is largely celebrated by consuming. Most of us ensure there is more than enough food for our family, but do we make any effort to make sure the hungry are provided for? And how about the day after Thanksgiving - the "biggest shopping day of the year." Thanksgiving has become this gateway into the commercial holiday season. For many this unthinking and unintentional consumption is a far cry from gratitude.
Melissa: It's always difficult to translate concepts like "gratitude" into lived practices. It would be amazing to see Christians transforming that day of celebration of abundance. Gratitude should always propel us outside of ourselves, reminding us that we are to reflect God's generosity to one another.
Just imagine how the world would be transformed if every Christian in the U.S. invited an elderly shut-in or homeless person into their home on that day. Or if Christians refused to give into over-consumption by saying no to the day after Thanksgiving. It would be tremendous.
Josh: That's a nice way to put it: "reflect God's generosity to one another." When I think of it, my experience of Thanksgiving is located with my nuclear family. You know, the traditional scene of a table filled with turkey and stuffing and potatoes. The meal becomes the central part of the day and, as at so many other meals, it facilitates a sharing and communion.
Your phrase made me think of that - as if we are all reflecting grace to one another around the table. And these moments are important and valuable - I'm not trying to say that feasts are not important (I'm Catholic after all). But feasts are intended to open our eyes to abundance and orient us to generosity. I agree that it is a perversion of the feast of Thanksgiving to spend the next day in shops and stores with our attention consumed by things instead of people.
Changing the topic, Thanksgiving is a lot about food and I know you lead reflections in the Moreau Center about how we relate to our food (where it comes from, how it got here, etc.). When you think of Thanksgiving in those terms, what comes to mind?
Melissa: Great! Food production is such a web of complexity because such a great number of people are affected by our choices: farmers, pickers, canners, processors, shippers, truck drivers, store clerks. Food never magically appears - there are always consequences for those who labor.
That's why the Catholic social tradition of subsidiary is so important. All governance, particularly around economics and trade should be used in the service of people. Small organizations and groups do this better because the worker is much more vital to that system than in a giant conglomerate. The workers' presence is always felt.
What do you think?
Josh: So, the Thanksgiving meal we'll share with family not only connects us to important people in our lives, but it will also connect us in a real and tangible way to people who grow, harvest and produce the food we are eating. In Catholic terms, this sounds like a sacramental moment! This holiday meal doesn't simply fill our bellies with nutrients, it is a way in which we participate in the lives of others, both near and far.
I guess the important thing is intentionality. We participate in those lives whether we know it or not, so we might as well be aware of it and make the most of it. I know in our family, we include all of these people in our prayer, but what are some other ways that we could intentionally recognize the relationship we have with all of these people?
Melissa: We do have the opportunity to act on the sacramental nature of the Thanksgiving feast by honoring the image of God in every person, especially the poor in the fields.
I know that not everyone is convinced of the nutritional benefits of organic food, but choosing to pay a little more for this kind of produce means that a worker in the fields was not exposed to the poisonous pesticides that keep our food looking perfect.
By paying attention to what companies we support with our Thanksgiving meal we as a church can say we only support companies with just labor policy, those who refuse to employ child labor, who provide adequate health and maternity benefits and protect their laborers from harm.
I hope that both our families and students at UP find ways to act out the holy in Thanksgiving this year and every day.
