Have you noticed the minimal media exposure for Thanksgiving? It’s pathetic! There is a blast of ads for Halloween and then immediately the media turns its attention to Black Friday and Christmas. Hey, whatever happened to my favorite holiday of all, Thanksgiving? The only television ad I noticed was a supermarket ad. Can it be that Thanksgiving, because of its religious nature, is being squeezed out of our culture? Could we lose Thanksgiving? Shockingly it’s possible! As we become more secular as a society and drift further and further from our biblical moorings, we could lose Thanksgiving.

Consider what has happened to other religious holidays. Whatever happened to Christmas? It has completely morphed into a secular holiday marked by festive decorations, secular songs, gift buying and giving, and led by a jolly old elf, Santa Claus. Whatever happened to celebrating the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ? Whatever happened to mangers, Christmas pageants and concerts, and wishing people “Merry Christmas?” No, I refuse to wish anyone “Happy Holiday!” Too generic, too politically-correct. I am not ashamed of the name of Jesus Christ and will use it every chance I get.

Next in my little diatribe is Easter, the most important holiday for Christians for it celebrates the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The culture has done another neutering job on that one too. Now it’s Easter egg hunts, chocolate eggs, peeps, and special attire which mark the holiday. There is no mention of the resurrection of Christ, no celebration of the empty tomb.

I know I probably sound negative but my greatest concern is not the loss of Christian holidays. It’s the slow, downward, spiral we’re seeing as our culture moves further and further away from God. We are living in Romans 1 days, “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21).

Irv