Thanksgiving vs. Christmas: How Should We Celebrate This Season?
As Christmas decorations appear earlier each year, even before Thanksgiving, it's worth asking why we're rushing past one holiday to get to another.
Dr. David Murphy, Dean of Behavioral and Social Sciences at CCU's College of Adult and Graduate Studies, explores this phenomenon in a recent article for The Christian Post.
He suggests that in times of political division, economic uncertainty, and global instability, people naturally gravitate toward Christmas because it uniquely combines faith and family. While the excitement for celebrating Christ's birth is understandable, Murphy argues we risk missing an equally important opportunity for gratitude and national reflection.
Thanksgiving holds unique significance as a distinctly American holiday that reminds us of God's blessings on our nation and our responsibility to bless others in return. Murphy traces the holiday from the 1621 Plymouth harvest celebration through President Lincoln's 1863 proclamation, which sought to unite a deeply divided nation during the Civil War.
He draws parallels to today's polarized climate and suggests that renewed gratitude, including for our Constitutional freedoms, religious liberty, and the opportunity to gather with loved ones, could be part of healing our national divisions.
Rather than rushing past Thanksgiving to get to Christmas, we can embrace both: celebrating God's grace through Christ while also reflecting on the blessings of liberty that allow us to worship freely.