Thanksgiving Musings

We're already forging ahead this Thanksgiving, and it's not quite 9 AM: Morning prayer, study, meditation; exercise; delivery from Fresh Direct; fixed a problem with Yahoo email. Next, bring up turkey from fridge downstairs and get it ready for the oven. Looking to start cooking it before 10 AM. After that, plan to cook some vegetables, stuffing, sweet potatoes (already cooked the mashed rutabaga).

Not bad for a Thanksgiving morning, eh? (Hey, I thought this was day off!)

Of course, doing stuff is all good, but it's not all that Thanksgiving brings. We're down to a skeleton crew for dinner (and not because our esteemed, Emmy award winning Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered it!). It's just the way things worked out this year. 

Would one of our family members have come over for dinner in a normal year? Likely. But concern with the spike in COVID is understandable. Most of us, in our family, don't lean one way or the other when it comes to masks, distancing, etc. We're just being prudent. If all of this is a "hoax" as some say, great. But if it's not, do we really want to subject ourselves to what, whatever the source of your information, has been a relatively unpredictable response on the part of some to being infected. So we keep it safe and simple.

But again, it's not because of the dictates of the government. That's another story - and we'll leave it aside for now in the interests of keeping our Thanksgiving at a higher level - a level you can't place politics, especially these days.

The day began with lots of rain, now tapering a bit. I've got this idea that God sent the rain - something always dreaded in the New York area because of the Thanksgiving Day Parade. I take it as a message that's something like, "Well, you're going to stay in anyway, and you may not be having a big gathering, so the rain likely won't spoil anything much, right." (That was God speaking.)

The rain seems to be tapering off as we go through the morning, but the chance of continuing showers remains, and it's cloudy, here in the New York metro area. God brought this rain in a year that there won't be the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Oh, they're broadcasting what they call the Parade on TV, but it will be without spectators, and with some segments previously filmed. There was no blowing up of the balloons on the West Sid of Manhattan, an annual event that that draws lots of folks, including kids, the night before. That's out this year. 

Then again, haven't really watched the Parade for a number of years anyway. It's so over-produced, with constant commercial interruption. The "entertainment" staged in front of Macy's generally doesn't really satisfy. If anything, it's mostly loud and annoying. In fact, the whole thing got annoying. (Maybe I'm just a grump, but that's how it's seemed for at least that last 10+ years.)

With all that, there's something that's making its presence felt, some personal thoughts I'll share with you before signing off:

We first and foremost thank God - our loving Father - for the gift our dearest son. He will no longer share our Thanksgivings in body and soul. But we believe he will be with us, praying for us today, even as we pray for him.

We thank God for the rest of our family. Despite the pain and sorrow of the last year, we have remained firm in our love for each other. None of us - to my knowledge - has lost his or her faith in God and our holy religion. While none of us is perfect, we all continue to strive for the perfection that God's grace will allow, in whatever degree He allows. And we all look forward to that time when we will be united with our dearest departed son "In Paradisum."

Yes, we'll have our Thanksgiving dinner, in the face of the Great Sadness that still hovers over us. And, yes, we'll do our best to celebrate all the blessings that have remained after the death of our son - and they are bounteous.

When the festivities end for this Year of Our Lord 2019, we will return to our daily work, each pursuing diligently the duties of his or her particular state of life, just as we did before our son's death, and as we have ever since. We will work for the greater glory of God, the God who has showered us with so many blessings for which we are thankful this day.

And as these days pass, we will continue to keep this beautiful vision of our son "In Paradisum," with a spirit of gratitude, ever alive in our hearts and minds.

"In Paradisum" is a beautiful chant in the treasury of Catholic liturgical song. For those of you who are musicians, listen to the first four notes ascending. These are the same as the first four notes of "When the Saints Come Marching In." I've read that the great New Orleans anthem was inspired by "In Paradisum." Makes sense because New Orleans was a Catholic city from its founding.

In any case, it's a beautiful and haunting chant that now always connects me with our son, whose soul we hope now is in Heaven.