As we prepare for the great American feast of Thanksgiving—and the mania of the “holiday season” let’s think about what we are truly grateful for and Who it is we await as we prepare for the Nativity of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
First, Orthodox Christians prepare for the Feast of the Nativity by fasting for 40 days in anticipation. So, beginning November 15, we are called to withdraw from all those good and tasty foods being placed in front of us by a world that has the whole season backwards (and has basically forgotten what is really being celebrated in the first place). In practice, many Orthodox do not fast over the Thanksgiving holiday. Some do not begin fasting until after it has passed. And in some traditions the fast is not strictly kept until the last couple of weeks (beginning after St. Spyridon’s day---December 12—among some of the Greeks).
The truth is, the Advent Fast can be exceedingly difficult to keep in terms of food. Unlike the Great Fast in Lent, there is a competing general festival within the larger culture. Does this mean that we are given a dispensation from fasting? Absolutely not! But we are called to think more deeply about what fasting is truly about. It is NOT primarily about food. This is made very clear in the Scripture readings that lead up to Great Lent. Fasting from certain rich foods is meant to make us conscious of something far more important—our need to be freed from the “earthly cares” and desires that hold us down and keep us form thinking about the what truly matters, the things of eternal life. Every feast of the Lord is about “ultimate things”, about eternity, about salvation and we need to take time to prepare ourselves to accept and enter into the true meaning of the feast. To do so we need to remove ourselves from the distractions of this world. And this is especially hard during the Advent season.
So, what are some techniques we can use to successfully counter the cultural push to celebrate and spend to the point of distraction? Perhaps this is where the great American feast of Thanksgiving can help us out. After all, what we are grateful for tells us something about our relationship with God.
My list runs like this:
Of course, I am profoundly grateful to God for my family—for Prifteresha Luanne and Emily and for my extended family. I’m grateful for meaningful work—first and foremost as a priest of our Holy Orthodox Church, but also for my work as an educator at the school where I work to support my ministry.
But my deepest thanks is to God for giving me this life to live for Him and in Him as an Orthodox Christian believer. For, in the last analysis, everything I have is from God and must be offered back to Him in thanksgiving and praise and everything that is true and meaningful must ultimately have eternal connotations. Certainly, love does—those whom I love bear His image and likeness and have been made for eternity. And my work, if it is at all worthy, is directed toward the wellbeing of others and has an impact on their eternal destiny.
That leaves out some things, too. There are clearly things in my life that I can do away with—things that distract me from eternal life and tie me to this world. It is those things (some of which are edible!) that I can and should put aside in preparation for the Holy feast of Christmas. And if, in my weakness, I am not completely successful, then I must offer them as well to my God in thanksgiving. If there are truly things that are unworthy of a Christian (thoughts, words, deeds), then not only do I need to fast from them, but I must repudiate them as a matter of salvation.
So, fasting and our national feast of Thanksgiving can and must go hand in hand. After all, this is exactly how the church has always made things that are outside the tradition, but are good and worthy, a part of the living tradition and experience of the faithful. So, lets make our Thanksgiving a truly Orthodox one—not concerned with food and drink in and of themselves—but with the praise of God from Whom all good things proceed. And let’s continue throughout the Nativity season, doing our best to fast rightly from foods that we should avoid in the Advent season, but always, no matter what we eat, giving thanks to the One who became One of us for our sakes and for our salvation.
