This week and next, I offer two simple ideas for breathing a little more depth into the Thanksgiving tradition of “going around the table and saying something we’re thankful for”. This week, we will look at the idea of a “wave offering”, and next week we will look at a creative liturgy idea based in Psalm 124.
As we approach American Thanksgiving, Christian families are often looking for ways to draw out the spiritual aspects of what has become a very secular celebration. Strangely enough, churches usually provide very little in the way of resources to help families figure out how to do this well. Some families may have already developed rich spiritual traditions around Thanksgiving on their own, and others may be perfectly happy with, “Let’s go around the table and have everyone say something they’re thankful for.” However, I suspect many may have an unspoken feeling that they would like to make something more out of the holiday but haven’t quite figured out what or how. The Feast of Tabernacles offers a host of ideas to draw on for this, and I look forward to talking more in depth about that at some point in the future, perhaps when the season comes back around next year. For now, I’d like to take just a brief glimpse at one specific aspect of it.
The Feast of Tabernacles is Israel’s end-of-harvest festival. While there are a great many rich traditions around it, the two most central elements of its celebration are the building of temporary shelters (tabernacles) and feasting. It is a time to remember and celebrate God’s provision in both the wilderness of the past and the harvest of the present. One description of the festival is found in Leviticus 23:33-43. Among other things, the Israelites are instructed to “take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days” (Lev. 23:40 NIV). Here, I have taken this as inspiration for the following variation on “going around the table and saying something we’re thankful for.” I am calling it a “wave offering”, although it is not really related to the wave offerings mentioned in Scripture.
The instructions for this activity are below. There are several benefits of doing something like this rather than just going around the dinner table and having everyone say something:
- It requires greater forethought and reflection. Sometime ahead of the event, each person must consider and decide what they will share when they come. They must also think about it enough to decide on an appropriate object to represent it.
- Since they will have already decided what to share, people are more likely to be engaged in listening rather than trying to decide what they will say when it is their turn. The objects help draw and hold our attention during the sharing as well.
- After the sharing portion is complete, it moves us into several minutes of full-body worship of God in community as we respond together to the things we have just shared.
- The whole experience is more fun, engaging, and memorable for kids and adults alike.
Interactive Activity: Wave Offering
Before the gathering:
Ask everyone to bring a symbolic object representing God’s provision for them in the last year.
During the gathering:
Ask each person to share briefly with the group the significance of the item they brought and how it represents God’s provision in their life. After everyone has shared, sing a praise song together celebrating God’s provision. During the song, each person waves their object in thankfulness before God as they sing.
Tip: One song that works well for this is “Forever” by Chris Tomlin. It is a familiar song for many, which helps, and the doubled “sing praise” line works well for waving. One way to do it is to have everyone wave their object from left to right on the first “sing praise” and from right to left on the second “sing praise” each time it occurs in the song. Beyond that, everyone can wave their item around as much as they like. Kids can have a lot of fun with this.
Contingency: If someone forgets to bring their object, they could draw a picture, or look for a small, leafy branch from outside to use as a substitute.
Variant: Instead of bringing an object, make craft palm branches and write a blessing from the year on each leaf.