By James B. Ewers Jr. Ed.D.
The United States of America is recognized for having many holidays. We celebrate them and give honor to each of them.
There are 11 permanent federal holidays that we celebrate in this country. The first holidays were New Year’s Day, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
There are some holidays where food is involved, and I must admit those are my favorites. For example, we usually have barbeques when July 4th comes around.
There are even cooking contests for that national holiday to see who can prepare the best barbeque. Grills are fired up along with having ribs and chicken as the meats. According to the cooking critics, it’s the ingredients in the sauce that make the taste so good.
America just celebrated Thanksgiving, so family and friends gathered around the table to give thanks and to have some food.
This Thanksgiving was different in some ways. If you were blessed to have bountiful food, then I hope you gave bountiful prayers of thanksgiving to the Lord. This most recent Thanksgiving should not have been taken for granted.
Over the years, we begin to take having a turkey, dressing, macaroni and cheese and other fixings for granted. Of course, there were other food items, and you always had enough.
Yes, the food was important, and it was delicious. We ate all day and well into the night. To paraphrase Luther, it was never too much.
Thanksgiving was also one of those holidays that brought family and friends together. Folks would travel distances to see each other and to have good fellowship. Aunts and uncles would simply pop up and bring dishes to eat, too.
If you were fortunate enough recently to have your family members around the Thanksgiving table, then pause to give Him the praise and the honor for making this happen. Today, we live in difficult and demanding times. As a result, having food and family around isn’t what it used to be.
Food in our America is now in short supply. Traditional access has been cut off. Getting government assistance has been shuttered for some with new rules and requirements. Reports say approximately 42 million people have been affected by these regulations. So, during this Thanksgiving many had to rely on alternative food supplies.
Some families had to stand in line to receive their meals. The scene of parents and children waiting for food was repeated in many cities across this country. America, we should be ashamed. Those in Washington DC who created this hurt and pain should cry out for forgiveness. Do you think they did?
The same people who stood in line this Thanksgiving were sitting at tables during Thanksgiving 2024. What changed? Politicians began playing with the lives of citizens. Hunger does not have a color or a gender.
The lingering effects of the government shutdown spilled over into Thanksgiving and made it unhappy. You see, people had less food and were missing family members.
Too many children were left with empty stomachs and no smiles. Senior citizens were also at risk because of food shortages. All around, this was simply a bad scene.
The government has launched an initiative to go into certain cities and target people they believe are here illegally. If you are living in Memphis or New Orleans, you should feel uneasy. People who don’t have their papers in order should be helped and not hindered.
This administration in my opinion has no compassion regarding the immigration issue. Simply stated, they don’t want to help them become legal citizens. America is a land of immigrants. That is a fact.
Will upcoming holidays be filled with this type of meanness and retribution? Right now, that’s a good question.