A Season of Celebration
Posted on Nov 03, 2020 by Shari Van Baale
In November, we celebrate Thanksgiving and the start of Advent. We also have had All Saints’ Day, the end of Daylight Savings Time (probably not something to celebrate, as our amount of daylight hours is reduced), and Election Day. Veterans Day is next week, and Christ the King Sunday is in a couple of weeks.
We have honored the saints who have gone before us and will honor veterans who served our country. On Christ the King Sunday, which we will celebrate on Nov. 22, we honor Jesus Christ as “King of all kings.” We celebrate Christ’s victory over death, and his reign forever.
We begin Advent on the last Sunday of the month, and celebrate Thanksgiving just before that. Once again, we are entering unchartered territory. Advent and Thanksgiving are typically times to celebrate. Yet, this year it might be harder to feel joyful when we are unable to do the things we have done every year.
Perhaps you are starting a new Thanksgiving tradition this year, as it is advised to keep family gatherings small. While my family doesn’t see relatives on Thanksgiving, as they are all far away from where we live, my family usually watches the parade and has a meal at a church afterward. The meal is not happening this year, and the parade will be different, with a shorter route and some prerecorded. This is the first time in 10 years that we can’t celebrate those traditions. It is sad, but maybe it will be a way to form new traditions.
Back in March, when the pandemic started in the United States, people were enjoying being able to slow down and spend more with their immediate family. Sure, no one liked having to stay at home, but families were reuniting over meals, games, movies, and just hanging out together.
As we approach the holiday season, may we discover that uninterrupted family time that we had back in early spring, and look back on the 2020 holiday season not as a time of going without, but renewing relationships with our loved ones.
Shari Van Baale
Communications Coordinator