Saturday, November 29, 2014
Exodus 12:26-27 ... when your children ask you, "What does this ceremony mean to you?" ... then tell them ...
COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS
Recently I read of a boy of 10 or 11 whose best friend invited him over for Thanksgiving dinner. When he and his buddy were called in to eat, the dining room table was set with plates and flatware, cups and glasses and napkins, but no food -- not even a piece of bread.
They all sat down. Then the visitor noticed there was a little pile of corn on each empty plate, five kernels to be exact. But before he could say a word he saw the father nod to the youngest daughter, who then asked, "Father, why are there five pieces of corn beside our plates?" The boy from down the street wanted to know that too. And the father explained.
The Pilgrims faced many hardships during those early years in America. One of the first winters it was so bad that for a time the daily ration was only five pieces of corn per person. The next year, however, because of God's blessings -- including help from their Indian friends -- they had a bountiful harvest.
We've all heard about the Thanksgiving banquet that pilgrims and Indians ate together that fall and we know that custom continues to this day. Another custom practiced by the Pilgrims and others was to place five kernels of corn on each empty plate before Thanksgiving dinner was served -- a reminder of God’s gracious and bountiful provision in good times and bad and of our need to give thanks to the Lord.
Then the father (at the table to which our young lad was invited) picked up a piece of corn and looked around at his family and told them and God just how thankful he was for them. He laid the piece of corn by the side of the plate. The mother took a kernel of corn and named something she was thankful for, and they went around the table that way. Each holding up a piece of corn and naming something for which they were especially thankful to God that year -- until everyone had given thanks for five blessings, one for each piece of corn.
After that, they all went out to the kitchen and there on the counter was all kinds of food. They all brought the food back out to the table and stood behind their chairs for a prayer of thanks. Then they ate.
