What’s Thanksgiving without Pizza?

Thanksgiving is a great time. It’s a time for family, friends, football, and food…turkey, cranberries, pumpkin pie, and of course pizza. What’s the matter? Don’t you have pizza on your Thanksgiving table?

Our Thanksgiving pizza started years ago when I invited Bob, Diane and their family to our house for Thanksgiving. They had recently moved to Connecticut and would be alone for the holiday. When I asked Bob’s children what they wanted for thanksgiving dinner his teenaged son yelled, “Pizza”! This drew a rebuke from Bob. He apologized to me and informed his son that pizza was not a traditional food for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Day came and they arrived. I set a large pizza on the table, near the turkey. Bob and Diane were stunned. My in-laws were shocked. All the kids were ecstatic. It was a first. Some one commented that pizza wasn’t traditional…and invoked the Lord’s forgiveness for what I’d done. “Be careful. You don’t want to go tampering with Thanksgiving traditions!”

Many things we take for granted were not at the original Thanksgiving. Sorry, there was no pumpkin pie, corn, cranberries, or sweet potatoes. Sorry, there was no football game. Sorry, there were no forks! Forks? There were no forks at the first thanksgiving. They were not in common usage at that time. Yet today all those things are there. Traditions do change over time. We don’t remember when or why. Somehow, they just change.

Thanksgiving is about thanking God for all we have, for helping us survive the harsh world, for blessing our family and friends. That part of the tradition has remained constant…giving thanks.

I like traditions. They keep me anchored. They feel like a foundation in an ever-changing world. Yet there are “traditions” in life that can hinder growth. You’ve seen these too in your own lives. They are the “policies, procedures, rules and regulations” that we once created to help organize our home life, our church life, and our work life. You hear it in the phrases, “We’ve always done it this way.”, or, “That’s how I was taught to do it.”

For example, you may have heard the story about the husband who wondered why his wife always cut the ham into two pieces before she baked it. She said it was something she had learned from her mother. And her mother had learned it from her mother. When the husband asked the grandmother why she cut the ham that way, she laughed and said, “…because my first oven was too small for the whole ham!”

Old story with an important message, we often don’t know why we do what we do! I am NOT suggesting that we throw out all our traditions. I AM suggesting that we begin to think first about what we do and why. The Jewish Passover is an example of remembering why. During the Seder the youngest child asks, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” Then the narrative of first Passover begins.

Traditions are our foundations…our beliefs…our strengths…our remembrances. From time to time, we need to examine them and keep that which is good. To help start your own examination, ask yourself a few questions like these…

What is the original meaning or purpose of our tradition?
Why is important to remember our tradition?
How does this tradition strengthen us and add value to our lives and work?
What would we gain or lose if we changed the tradition?

Now if you find yourself thinking, “This is silly. We would never have pizza at Thanksgiving,” it may be time to ask yourself, “Why not?” Maybe you could making it with turkey and cranberries! Remember it’s not about the food.