 On The Line -- Issue 660 -- November 9, 2007  Online News and Views of Life in San Benito County with Herman Wrede Published by HollisterOnline.com -- Copyright 1995-2008 HollisterOnline.com
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On The Line -- Issue 660 -- November 9, 2007 Online News and Views of Life in San Benito County with Herman Wrede Published by HollisterOnline.com -- Copyright 1995-2008 HollisterOnline.com
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We are now entering the season of grace, that annual miracle, the time to which the whole year leads. It is called the holidays and everyone welcomes it because it brings us nearer to - and reminds us of - what each of us was meant to be.
It is appropriate that with Veterans' Day we are given a reason to be grateful. It is then we honor all the men and women who served honorably in the nation's services, and of the hundreds of thousands who are serving now. Many members of the older generation -- those born in the 1920s and ?30s -- wore their country's uniforms in war or peace. Those who served in World War II and Korea learned what sacrifice meant. Thousands of tombstones in the United States and abroad bear the names of those whose lives were abruptly ended, some still in their teens. Vietnam and now Iraq have added thousands upon thousands of other names to the cemeteries and other military action in other places saw American deaths. They gave everything. Our duty on Veterans' Day and Memorial Day is to remember them and the reason they served. With the repeated lesson in gratitude and humility we turn toward another tradition. Thanksgiving is our oldest American custom, started when we were a few score British subjects who gave thanks for having arrived in a land where they could observe their own religion without fear of imprisonment or scorn. No matter that the first terrible winter had taken many lives or that disease stalked the survivors and that food was often in short supply and that they were in a land of forests and wild animals; they could worship as they pleased. The Indians taught them agricultural methods that yielded plentiful crops and showed them edible gourds previously unknown to them. Wild game was abundant, and they soon had enough food to see them through the winter. In appreciation, they asked many Indians to their Thanksgiving feast. It was not a standard holiday then but was practiced whenever they felt that their God had answered some crisis with a solution. It was not until the 20th Century that Thanksgiving was made a regular holiday to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of every November. The fourth is usually the last Thursday of the month but sometimes it is the next to last Thursday, as it is this year. The typical Thanksgiving today consists of the family and close friends gathering at a table laden with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, yams and pumpkin pie. It has become a custom for each diner to tell for what he is thankful before eating. The very fact that we have a long list of blessings to choose from may be the best reason for gratitude. It many be security, ample food every day, a loved one present from far away, good friends, and many more. Dinner is often followed by watching Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on television before turning to several football games. That is a typical Thanksgiving but is unfortunately not shared by millions of Americans. Some families must choose between having enough heat in their homes and having enough food, or not enough of each. Many of the more fortunate strive to improve the lot of those who lack the means to do so, at least for the holidays. Gift bags of groceries, a few dollars, perhaps some outgrown clothing passed on to those who need them go a long way for a family living below the poverty level. Small Steps is a local organization founded in the 1990s that provides dozens of youngsters with new shoes and other new items including new coats and other apparel. It depends upon monetary donations, and the adults carefully screened and chosen take the designated children on the biggest shopping spree at local stores than most of them had ever seen. With Thanksgiving past but the goodwill rising, thoughts turn to Christmas. We may have been reminded of it with the commercials that begin around Halloween but as November flows into December the cheerfulness grows and we recognize the old feelings that have prompted us in previous Yuletides. Some far memory of the gladness we felt at Christmas when we were children surfaces in minds usually occupied with the daily rat race. It is more than Christmas trees, angels and shepherds and even Santa Claus. It is acceptance of all other people and being accepted. It is love. Perhaps of all the people who live or have lived in San Benito County, the one whose life seemed to focus on the precept that we all are our brother's keeper was Marland Holte who died in 2005. Holte and his wife decided in 1986 that rather than exchange Christmas presents they would use the money for a community dinner, open to anyone who wanted to come for any reason; some to be assured of a holiday feast although they did not have the money for it, and others alone through different circumstances wanted to be with others on that day. It was held in the Hollister Community center and 60 or 70 persons attended it. Many volunteers donated food or money and/or work because the idea inspired them. Whether it was in setting up tables, peeling potatoes, slicing turkey or in washing pots, the volunteers enjoyed the day as much as any of the diners. The Christmas dinner proved to be such a success that it became an annual affair, the Thanksgiving dinner being added a few years later. It soon outgrew its original home and both holidays are observed with a proper feast at O'Reilly Youth Center. On Christmas day the observance is expanded with Santa Claus giving new presents that are appropriate to the age and gender of those receiving them. As Holte himself remarked, "Once you've seen a little girl's eyes shine at a doll, perhaps the only present she will receive that year, you'll know that you've put your finger on the true pulse of Christmas." There is enough residual good will after Christmas to carry us into the new year. It wears off quickly after that and we are soon back at our normal activities. But every year, the annul miracle renews itself and we bask in it. |
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