Succoth
“When you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the festival of the Lord . . .”
The observance of a harvest festival as a time of thanksgiving has roots that go back to the Middle East. The Jewish people celebrated two harvest festivals, one in spring and one in fall.
The fall harvest, Succoth, was celebrated joyously for a week, following a day of rest and a Day of Atonement. Participants held parades where the fruits of the earth were displayed. Families built huts or "booths" and lived outdoors to remember the days when Israelites lived in temporary conditions in the wilderness.
This festival joined two themes: thanksgiving for harvest and the remembrance of God's providential care. It was an opportunity to teach the lesson that nothing we have is permanent or deserved. We are all dependent on God's grace.
Like the Israelites, we too, when we become settled and secure, forget the source of our blessings. While we have not wandered in a literal wilderness for forty years, we are on a continuous journey with God. Our observance of Thanksgiving Day should include a time to reflect on that experience.
For Reflection: Have I forgotten the source of my blessings?
A Prayer Seed:
We plow the fields and scatter the good seed on the land,
But it is fed and watered by God's almighty hand;
God sends the snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine, and soft refreshing rain.
All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above;
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord for all God's love.
Matthias Claudius, 1782
