Thanksgiving Day Family Feud

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.—1 Corinthians 12:12-14

It seemed a little unorthodox to me—to watch anything on TV other than football while the Thanksgiving turkey roasted.  But the laughter erupting from the den drew me to a comfy spot between my daughter Emma and her husband Ricky’s cousin who I just met that afternoon.  It seemed Family Feud was a family favorite among my newfound family.  Everyone was shouting out answers left and right.  Before I knew it, I was adding my own to the mix.  I guess I fit in just fine.

I glanced around the room at all the smiling faces and couldn’t help but notice how diverse the group was – white, black, Hispanic, young, old.  Not the traditional family I was used to.  Nor the traditional Thanksgiving.  But things were changing in my biological family.  My aging parents were no longer up to hosting a celebration for 50 family members.  It was time for something different.  So I invited them to a celebration with my children and their families on Wednesday.  That left Thursday open for me to accept the invitation to tag along with Emma and Ricky to celebrate with his family. So here I was—now part of another family.  Truly. For Hispanics mean it when they say, “Mi casa es su casa” (My house is your house).

“Name something that is wasted,” boomed Steve Harvey, host of the Family Feud.

“Electricity! Time!” All of us shouted out answers so loud we couldn’t hear what was actually being said by the contestants.

The number one answer turned out to be food/milk. Oh, yeah, that’s a good one! I thought, remembering my mother’s age-old adage, “Waste not, want not.  May I never live to hear you say, ‘Oh, how I wish I had the crust that I once threw away.’”

Money was number two, followed by electricity. I thought about my own quest to save electricity, following the example of my “light police” father, shutting off all lights in the house except for those in the room currently occupied.  That’s the way I was brought up.  You don’t waste food and you don’t waste electricity.  In so doing, you don’t waste money.

Then a surprising answer appeared on the board—me.  But it wasn’t surprising to Roberto who had already considered that survey respondents might answer from a humorous figurative perspective. And figuratively speaking, people do get wasted (slang for drunk).  While others laughed, I considered the response in a more literal sense.  Do people waste themselves—their lives? Certainly we know the answer and certainly that is no laughing matter.

The final answer appeared—time.  Just in time—for the call to the Thanksgiving supper.

But before we served up the turkey and trimmings, communion was served. Minister Uncle Reggie initiated the family’s first-ever communion service, reading from the Word, while all of us stood solemnly in a circle, steadying our tiny cups and pressing the cracker between our fingertips. Something stirred within my heart, and I was grateful to be there.

Afterwards we filled our plates with savory ham, roast turkey, rice stuffing, potato stuffing, rice and beans, corn soufflé, sweet potato casserole, glazed plantains, steamed vegetables, and cranberry sauce—some of which were not-so-traditional Thanksgiving foods to me. But the taste test revealed some talented cooks among us.  And the conversation revealed talents in other areas—I learned there were two nurses in the group, two parents of a special needs child, two teachers, two ministers, two with military backgrounds, two aspiring writers (counting myself), one worship singer, and one who has served Presidents. Then our host Roberto revealed something else—I would have the honor of saying the benediction at the end of our celebration. All of a sudden, me, the word weaver, was at a loss for words.

Throughout the meal, I wondered what I would say/pray.  I kept thinking about the game show—and the juxtaposition of considering what we waste on the day designated for considering what we’ve been given. 

Are we truly thankful if we waste what we’ve been given?

Something I read earlier in the week resurfaced. Referencing their traditions, Jesus spoke to the Pharisees and teachers of the law to confirm what was prophesied, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. “ (Matthew 15:8)

Oh, Lord, I don’t want to be like the Pharisees, just honoring you with my lips…

On Thanksgiving it’s tradition to give thanks to God for all his wonderful blessings.  We may even rattle off an itemized list in our mealtime prayer. But are we merely paying Him lip service?

Perhaps Family Feud should add another response to the board—words. Do we waste our words when we waste His blessings—thanking Him for the food and then moments later throwing out the excess we piled on our plates? Thanking Him for our jobs to supply the money we need to run our household but wasting it on frivolous things?  Or thanking Him for family but later allowing an argument to get under our skin, starting an actual family feud?  

Are we wasting our time here on earth? 

We Christians are a diverse lot—that’s for sure.  Just that slice of the body of Christ gathered together at Roberto’s house represented different backgrounds and cultures, states, even countries.  Some of us were raised by biological parents, some of us not.  We see things differently—partly due to our nature but also due to our nurturing. We have unique gifts and talents—some just coming to light, others yet to unfold. But that’s just what Jesus wants. The more diverse we are, the more souls we can reach.

When He ascended—in His body—into heaven, He left us—His body—here on earth to carry out His work.  In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul compares the body of Christ to the human body.  Each part of the human body has a unique purpose.  And even what may seem to be a weaker part is indispensable (vs. 21). So it is with the members of the body of Christ.  God has placed every one of them, just as he wanted them to be (vs. 18).

God placed me there that night in that home with that group of people—and through something as unexpected as a game show, He gave me the words to share. May we mean what we say and say what we mean. And may our words never go to waste.

What is your purpose in the body?  What are your God-ordained goals?  Are you managing your time so you can do one thing each day to move you a little closer to attaining them?

The first two letters of the word goal spell go.  That indicates action.  Take action today.  Find a need.  Volunteer.  Sign up for that class.  Take that test.  Raise your hand.  Raise your voice. 

Remember, if you’re not moving toward your goal, you’re moving away from it.  Wasting time wastes lives.  Make yours count.  Make a difference.  Let your light shine, for that’s the one light you don’t want to turn off.

Ricky knocked on the car window as I was ready to pull out of the driveway. “Thanks for coming.  It was better because you came.”

Dear Lord, thank You for placing me in Your family and making me just the way You want me to be.  May I never waste Your gifts but always use them to make things “better,” illuminating the path to You. Amen.