My favorite holiday

by Phil Johnson



ast year, I described what a "traditional" Thanksgiving meal looks like at our house. No turkey.

That rule has become so inviolable that Darlene drove to four different grocery stores Tuesday, because the only "Italian sausage" our normal market had was turkey sausage, and she had trouble finding the real thing.

But she finally found it, and the aroma in our house is now filled with the nostalgic ambrosia of an authentic Thanksgiving in the Johnson household: gourmet pizza. The pizza-carving ceremony today is scheduled for about 2:30. This year we have a house full of guests, all young people who are thrilled to have the world's finest deep-dish pizza instead of the standard smorgasbord of turkey and side-dishes-no-one-really-likes-because-why-else-would-they-make-them-just-once-a-year.

Anyway, I love Thanksgiving because it is the one holiday annually that still hasn't been hopelessly commercialized and secularized. It has a singular purpose, and it's focused on God's grace and goodness.

I won't list all the things I am thankful for, because the list is too long. It starts with the reality of divine grace and the love of Christ for sinners like me. My list prominently features my wife and family, and close behind would be several pages listing relatives and friends whom I'm thankful for. Properly enumerated, the list would also include practically every facet of my life and ministry. And let's not forget Wrigley, my Beagle. Then there'd be a unabridged-dictionary-sized list of all the daily tokens of divine grace we often take for granted. And the list would have to end with profound gratitude for pizza instead of turkey.

You have a great day, and may the Lord make us all truly thankful.

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