It’s the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Wow! What a rush: a time for food, family, friends, and fund. (Oh, I mean Fun!) Of course, the holidays bring on all kinds of excesses that build and build into all kinds of stresses (including, it seems a tendency for me to lapse into Dr. Suessisms.)

Every year at this time, clergy and lay folk alike lament the seemingly manic focus on activities, parties, home decorations, and lavish spending instead of keeping the focus on “the reason for the season.� This is, of course, a matter of faith.

Where am I going with this? I’m saying, let’s bring Faith home. Let’s hear what Faith has to say for a change. We might be surprised.

The Sunday before Thanksgiving is when we celebrate our Thanksgiving Festival. It has evolved over the past few years in the same direction that I believe our country’s self-identity needs to evolve. In our service we still honor the history and traditions of the Pilgrims, with whom our church-tradition shares a familial relationship. However, we have also begun to honor and recognize how people of many countries, ethnicities and religions have come to America and become a part of this great nation. Thanksgiving is the most widely celebrated holiday in the United States because it is not just the holiday of one faith tradition. It is a national celebration. As we mature beyond the many myths that have traditionally defined our country’s origins, we come to hold an even deeper respect for our union and the reasons for which it stands.