Thanksgiving is all about the turkey, isn’t it? I haven’t read the statistics but imagine that today there are anywhere between 30 and 40 million turkeys gracing whatever tables have been set for the purpose of enjoying the fact that Thanksgiving is all about the turkey. Of course, the actual setting of the table is important because there may be a few others who will join you to relish (so to speak) the fact that it is all about the turkey. In our house, getting ready for that turkey certainly involves setting the table, but one thing always leads to another so it’s a good idea to make sure the areas leading to the dining room are clean and clear of clutter and fully welcoming. That process does take a little time and effort, but time and effort that reminds me how grateful I am that Ashley Gerhard, among others, had the foresight to build our rectory back in 1930 and how my family and I have been the beneficiaries of that foresight. Actually, in our hallway we keep the Christmas card photographs that friends and family and parishioners send us posted all year round, and then after Thanksgiving take them down with the nervous hope that despite our terrible record of sending out Christmas cards others will want to send us one yet again as a visual reminder of their good wishes. But back to that dining room where it’s all about the turkey. Thanksgiving is one of those occasions where we want to bring out the family silver, to polish it up and above all else to count each utensil lest the cleanup include an inadvertent disposal of one or more of Bev’s grandmother’s dessert forks. But what fun to think that a late Victorian or Edwardian table displayed that same silver, and to wonder what life was like for our grandparents and beyond when they were growing up or when they were first married. But also in our dining room we’ve got my great grandfather and great grandmother peering down on us from their framed photographs, either to make sure we get this whole ritual right or for themselves to enjoy the successive generations of our family gathered in like fashion as they had once gathered. They’re also checking out Mike Guenther, the newest addition to our family as Elizabeth Prevost’s husband perhaps as if to say, “Mike, we’ve met your great great grandparents where we are and we’re tickled to know that you and Elizabeth are such a great couple. Marnie, we’re checking on Matt’s great great grandparents and so far, so good. Also, we’ve got our granddaughter, your Aunt Tealdie, up here with us, and she still raves about her visits to Winnetka and that turkey you’re about to eat!” So that’s George Barber Edwards and his wife Matilda Sterns and I realized that our dining room is really a pretty crowded place if we want to count all those who have gone before us but who keep an eye on how we might be using their carving set or their gravy boat or their candlesticks. By and large, though, we enjoy that company and are happy for that company and are thankful for that company because we think—or at least hope—that they approve. And it’s just simply fun to recall them and to celebrate their influence. Now because Thanksgiving Day is all about the turkey I remember years of advice to all of you saying that it tastes better if you’ve been to church. Now the church part doesn’t just happen on Thanksgiving Day or on any other occasion without its own rituals of preparation because if the turkey’s going to taste better today, church had better be up to snuff. And so the sextons and the Altar Guild and the choir and the clergy and the ushers and the flower guild all have their rituals of preparation and you know, it’s very interesting that the word Eucharist means Thanksgiving. Did you know that? So, on this Thanksgiving Day we are doing Thanksgiving at church, also around a table that needs to be prepared as well as cherished. For just like I’ve got George Barber Edwards on my side and Bev has Eleanor Williams Frazier on her side, among others, in attendance, we have some loving forbearers who have joined us here today. I think of Lydia Hoyt Fox and her children in whose memory this church was built in 1905. Lydia’s siblings gave that Tiffany window there in the chancel which is a depiction of Christ welcoming the children, but some would say was chosen because it’s as if Jesus is welcoming Lydia Hoyt Fox and her children into his heavenly kingdom. And I think of Ashely Gerhard, again, as well as Charlie Schreiner, Bill Lea, Frank McClain (and numerous assistants) who were in their day very conscious of how we get ready for church and are still hovering somewhere nearby and clucking their tongues at various high or low church changes they observe. Somehow, though, I believe they’re all very proud of you, for taking whatever ritual we use out into the world in the service of others. But even farther back we have St. Luke and St. Mark right here as well as the Butler family who gave this particular window and who are, I hope, relishing this new placement of the Baptismal font and the children who are being brought into the Church through the sacrament of Holy Baptism. Of course, St. Luke and St. Mark probably had some idea of the table around which the first Eucharist was celebrated and might be overheard to remark, “My, my. After all these years, centuries actually, Christians are still sharing that meal. Keep up the good work!” So, we keep our silver polished and work hard to make sure we continue to keep this table at the heart of our life together. But let’s not forget that on this day when I say, “It’s all about the turkey,” there are a lot of dots to and from that turkey that need to be connected, past, present, and future for which I am extremely grateful. Amen.
