After Thanksgiving Reflections

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Thank you for joining me. I'm Rabbi David Lyon from
Congregation Beth Israel in Houston. The Thanksgiving holiday has passed,
but I hope not the memories or the aromas and
the conversations that you remembered from around the table with family,
friends and others. Perhaps you settled around the table of
a familiar home and family and friends, or perhaps you

(00:24):
went out to spare yourself all the trouble of cooking
and cleaning and everything that followed. But Thanksgiving is a
holiday that we shouldn't forget. It should follow us into
the winter holiday season and well beyond. Thanksgiving is in
America everyone's holiday and every family. There are so many
special traditions that bring everyone around the table, no matter

(00:47):
where it is, whether it's a restaurant or someone's home
or a friend's set around special place settings are all
the foods, aroma's, flower arrangements, and goodies at family and
friends expect. I hope that you had your fill of
all your favorite things. The satisfying meal is supposed to
arouse memories of times gone by too special people who

(01:09):
were part of our family and circle of friends, who
are gone from life, but whose presence continues to abide
among us, and even measures of gratitude that overflow with
meaning and hopefulness, because this is a time to set
aside all differences, a time to look in front of
us and see the people who are there and the
feast in front of us, and with thanks in our hearts,

(01:31):
to appreciate what we have and not only what we
long for. As my wife and I were making our
way to see family over the Thanksgiving holiday, it was
a few days ago we arrived at the airport on
our way to spend the holiday with family on the
East Coast. Thankfully, the weather was clear and we arrived safely.
At the airport, I spoke with someone there who is

(01:53):
new to our country. After a brief and friendly conversation,
I said, happy thing Thanksgiving. His quizzical look made me
aware that Thanksgiving was not as familiar to him as
it was to me. I wish that I had time
to tell him more about the holiday and what it

(02:14):
means to all of us, but also what it can
mean to him and his family as they continue to
call America home. Whether our families have been in America
for generations or they've just arrived, this is America's holiday.
We know that it's about much more than turkey. Of course,
it's also about the fabric of our nation. It's unique

(02:35):
individualism that contributes to our nation's potential and promise, its
achievements and prosperity. America is built on individualism. We were
all raised and taught that we can be anything that
we want to be if we apply ourselves, learn well,
work hard. There isn't really any dream in America that

(02:57):
can't be. It certainly depends on time and circumstances. But
if we time it right and work hard, apply ourselves,
and build a network of people, there really isn't anything
that our gifts and talents and abilities can't help us
to accomplish. And that is why many of our own
immigrant families did come. My own family came around nineteen

(03:21):
twelve from Eastern Europe, like yours, from Ireland or Western
Europe or many other places. It was often for economic purposes,
to flee persecution and to arrive in a place that
many of our ancestors believed was as mine did that
the land was paved in gold. They called it the

(03:42):
Golden and Medina, the land paved in gold, because they
believed that every opportunity was here. But to tell you
the truth, they really did believe that the streets were
paved in gold, not because they found it when they
got here, but because of the stories that were told
about every opportunity and possibility that awaited them if they

(04:03):
could only arrive on these shores. And so many did.
They gave up persecution, they gave up famine, they gave
up intolerance, and they spent their money to buy passageway
to America to find all that they needed here. And
the individual's spirit was really what was all that they
needed to motivate them to accomplish more than they ever did,

(04:25):
And many of them did become something much more than
they ever were or could have been. We call them
the Horatio Alger stories. They are the rags to riches stories.
We know them because we've read about them. We know
them because we know people who accomplished such a feat.
And still today, in our startup, high tech world, there

(04:48):
are many people who came from nothing and became so
much more. Our hope has always been that not only
should they enjoy the richness and the rewards of what
they accomplished, but they should help us become a better nation.
As a result, individualism transforms into a sense of national cohesion,
a sense that what we do for ourselves can also

(05:11):
be part of the greater good. And that's why, even
within my own faith tradition, to be prosperous is a blessing,
but what we do with that prosperity is an even
more important blessing. Do we use it only for ourselves?
Absolutely not. We can live a good life, a comfortable
one too, But more important is to be sure that

(05:33):
we contribute to the community around us and to the
nation that gave us those privileges as well. And that's
why Thanksgiving is a place for all of us to
come together and see around us the pluralistic nature of
our country, the land of immigrants, all the different kinds
of people that make our nation so great. In my
own home city of Houston, we often say that it

(05:56):
doesn't matter how much money you bring into the city
if you are a newcomer, because nobody cares. Nobody cares
about a braggart in Houston, Texas. We only care that
whatever you bring, a little or a lot, you bring
a sense of commitment to make the city better. And
somebody who applies himself or herself, working hard, being diligent,
being good to the larger community too, and also being

(06:19):
prosperous and successful. That's the ticket to being a part
of the way that Houston grows and thrives. To apply
yourself with hard work and dedication, and as a result,
if prosperity comes, all the better. But no one turns
down their nose. It's somebody who works hard to make
a living, to make a difference, and we celebrate their achievements.

(06:43):
In Houston, we have a community where one hundred and
forty five languages are spoken. We have one of the
largest consular cores, and I would dare say that we
do interfaith and intercultural work pretty well. Not that other
cities don't, but I am proud out of my hometown,
especially at this season when Thanksgiving really is about reaching

(07:04):
out to many other people in the community and appreciating
those who also join us at our table to give
thanks for all that we have individually and together. It's
about making our nation's potential and problems available to all
individuals eventually, so that they might benefit from our nation's
achievements and prosperity. To Each year, Thanksgiving is a time

(07:27):
for expressions of gratitude for what we have and what
we can enjoy together. I know that in my city
many people spend the day serving food to those who
don't have enough for themselves and being a family to
those who don't have a family of their own. That's
the way we do it, not just in Houston, but
I know very well in your city too, wherever you

(07:49):
might be. So here's a list of some ways that
I hope you have given thanks and we can continue
to give things too. Thanks for the strength of family
who love us unconditionally. Thanks for friends who are family
whom we love so much. Thanks for the small gestures
between people that bring us closer together. Thanks for our

(08:10):
neighbors who care for us and the ways we care
for them. Thanks for our house of worship where joy
and sorrow are met with kindness. Thanks for the peace
in our houses where words and deeds matter every day.
Thanks for the hopes that live in our hearts. Thanks
for all our blessings that surround us. Thanks for the
privilege to give, Thanks for all we have been given,

(08:32):
and thanks for tomorrow that will come with ways to
say thanks again. Now you can add to my list
any way you want, and I hope that you've already
created your own and shared it with your family. Your
list should reflect what's in your heart. Despite the challenges
we see in the world around us, there's always room
for gratitude for what we have, including the personal power

(08:54):
to make a positive difference in the world. Above all,
I'm very thankful for the privilege to share the Thanksgiving
holiday at the winter holidays, to come with you, and
the obligation that we have to use what we've been
given for the greater good. It begins at home, but
it continues always beyond the boundary of our home into

(09:16):
our community, and well beyond it as well, so that
the reputation of our community can be a source of
pride and joy to those who come to know us
where we live and who depend on us for what
we produce and contribute to the larger fabric of a
great nation. Every day is that obligation to do it

(09:37):
and to know that other people are counting on us
even as we are counting on them. And you know,
my hope is that the man I spoke with at
the airport and people like him will come to know
the meaning of Thanksgiving Day two and how it can
be part of his family's traditions in the future as well,
I imagine, as I dream a little bit for him,

(10:00):
he might find success and prosperity in his new home
America and find ways not only to continue to live
by his own ethnic standards and cultural heritage, but perhaps
when he creates a Thanksgiving meal for his own family,
maybe he'll have turkey and stuffing on all the sides,
but also bring to the table flavors and special foods

(10:23):
from his home country and contributed to the fabric of
what thanks in Giving has come to mean for all
of us. Like you, I enjoy many of the traditional
Thanksgiving customs and foods to and in a small way,
I'm sure that my parents and grandparents contributed some flavors

(10:43):
and spices to the foods that made them feel especially
at home from where they came from and what they
wanted to continue to perpetuate in our traditions and family
circles too. We are always one nation of many peoples,
and it is and has proven to be our greatest strength,
and for that I'm very grateful too. But as we

(11:06):
enter the winter holiday season and we have Christmas and
Hanukkah and Kwanza and others. It is a time when
traditions generally identify this as the darkest season of the
years of winter, Solstice sneers and we use our religious
heritage to find light Christmas lights, Honka lights, Kwanza lights.

(11:28):
It's not a mystery that lights became part of the
ritual celebration Tod to lighten the darkness, and as darkness
was always equated with death and some horror, the light
brought life back to that darkness and death and reminded
us of the hopefulness of the season. Even at Hanaka time,

(11:50):
which I'll share more with you later. As we near
the holiday, we light the conical anthem anora with increasing lights. Naturally,
why would we do it the other way? The most
important this year is to recognize that lights are part
of our hopefulness and our optimism. I'm Rabbi David Lyon
from Congregation Meth Israel in Houston to listen Aganner to

(12:12):
share this message. You can certainly find it on my
podcast called Heart to Heart with Rabbi David Lyon at
Sunday ninety nine dot com, on the iHeartRadio app. And
as Hanika comes, it is a holiday that means dedication
dedicating ourselves to the very important values that are true
to the jew and for a Christian, true to a

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Christian and a Muslim as well. But I find across
all three Abrahamic traditions is the hopefulness that we have
in one universal God. And though we have particular ways
to reach that God, it is God in whose presence
and whose image we are created that we can do
and be at our very best. And so as the

(12:57):
holiday season comes and the dark bakness descends upon us,
I hope that it isn't only a physical light that
we light in the manora or hang on the tree,
or light in another candelabra. I hope that we can
be the light that needs to bring hopefulness back to
the darkness of the season. And though some people are

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suffering more than others, let's also be a source of
their light. Just as a candle is lit, we know
that as we light other candles from one flame, it
doesn't diminish the original flame at all. It simply adds
more light to those that are continuing to be lit.
So let's be that original flame that lends light and

(13:41):
warmth and hope to those who don't have enough. At
this season, we know that there are many people in
all the places where we live that need more than
they have, and certainly as much as we have. So
let's try to be all that we can, extending ourselves
from the Thanksgiving holiday looking forward to the winter holiday season.

(14:02):
It is a time of hopefulness that all of us
can celebrate. I do hope that you had a good Thanksgiving,
just as I did, and as my wife and I
returned home, we found our place in good company and
in safety, and we look forward to joining our community
to celebrate the winter holidays. So make your list, check

(14:23):
it and be sure that on it is not only
of things that you want, but also appreciation and gratitude
for what you have. In addition, I hope on that
list is some thanks to that which is larger than ourselves.
In whatever way and by whatever words, you find a
way to say, thank you God for what I have
been given, for what I have and what I strive

(14:46):
to be. Let's be there for ourselves, let's be there
for others, and let's not waste any time achieving all
that we can. Together. Thank you for joining me. Happy
holidays again. I look forward to being with you next
time