Thanksgiving Preparations

Thanksgiving Preparations

The American Thanksgiving tradition draws on the Puritan practice of harvest thanksgivings, which in turn drew on the Old Testament harvest festivals. Deuteronomy 26:1-11 gives the ritual for presenting the firstfruits: a prescribed speech tracing the history of God's faithfulness, culminating in the offering of the harvest's first portion. The ritual prevented the most natural human error at harvest time: the attribution of abundance to one's own effort. The basket held in the hands was placed before God because what was in the basket had come from God. The bow acknowledged the source. Every abundance requires this ritual: acknowledge the source.

Deuteronomy 26:10's moment of placing the basket before God and bowing is one of the most beautiful ritual acts in the Old Testament. The farmer who has worked through planting and tending and harvesting brings the first portion to God. Not because God needs the food but because the act of offering is the act of acknowledgment: this came from You. The bow is the posture of dependence recognizing the Giver. In the week of Thanksgiving, the ritual is the same: trace the abundance backward to God, bring the first portion of recognition and praise, bow before the One whose gifts are in the basket. Then celebrate.