Thanksgiving Plans…Or Not

By DEACON MIKE MANNO

This month, in fact this week, is Thanksgiving and, apparently, it has not been totally banned, although some of our political leaders and medical bureaucrats are telling us that it might be best to skip friends and family celebrations this year so we can all be around for next year. A little silly, in my book, since there is no guarantee that any of us, especially our elderly parents and grandparents, will be around in a year.

So in order to do my part in the face of the pandemic, as if I haven’t been isolated enough, I decided to look into some of the recommendations our leaders have given us for how to handle this week’s holiday. And as I reviewed them, I wondered if perhaps this was just a way to extend their control over their citizens. After all, to many of us the pandemic seemed to be the perfect vehicle for some politicians to exert control over the public almost as if they were trying to see how far they could push us.

Many used the virus as an opportunity to flex their muscles against the Church, demanding that it close its doors completely in some places or drastically and ridiculously limit attendance, sometimes to as few as 10 in a cathedral that could seat 2,000. In some locations, drive-in services where no one left their vehicles and heard their ministers over low-powered FM stations were banned and their drivers ticketed.

And, of course, the classic example was that due to the disease we could not safely vote, thus the need for mail-in voting, which would, according to the experts, provide a safe, tamper-proof way to beat the virus and safely choose our leaders.

So much for the experts. And as I researched some of what we are being told about this Thursday, I wondered why we have leaders who act as if we’re too ignorant to figure out how to celebrate safely on our own. To me it’s really simple: Be careful, you know the risks; maintain proper hygiene, and if you are in a category that is apt to be vulnerable to the pandemic, or you don’t feel well, stay home. Otherwise act prudently and enjoy this most American of holidays.

Instead, this is what we get, mandatory guidelines and threats of legal enforcement: In California residents are told, “All persons planning to host or participate in a private [Thanksgiving] gathering . . . must comply with the requirements identified below . . . .

“Gatherings that include more than three households are prohibited. This includes everyone present, including hosts and guests. . . . Gatherings must be outdoors [in certain] counties. . . . If gathering indoors, increase fresh air circulation by opening windows or doors, as much as possible, especially in the rooms where people are gathering. . . .

“Seating must provide at least six feet of distance (in all directions — front-to-back and side-to-side) between different households. People at gatherings are advised to limit removal of their face coverings to when they are actively eating or drinking.

“Gatherings should be two hours or less. . . . Singing, chanting, shouting, cheering, playing of wind instruments and similar activities are not permitted in indoor gatherings.”
Remember for some of us Thanksgiving is a big football day. So how do we watch football if we can’t cheer?

In Chicago, where I hear there is a lot of shouting and cheering going on, Mayor Lori Lightfoot issued a stay at-home order and asked residents to cancel their “traditional” Thanksgiving plans. And if anyone hosts more than ten there will be consequences: “If we see you violating these rules in any way, we’re not going to hesitate to take action,” she decreed.

Hmmm, so much for Chicago being a toddlin’ town.

Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer has cautioned us not to gather with friends and family, but instead do a video call or share photos with each other. I wonder if just logging into Cousin Nancy’s Facebook page will work. “The more people we have in our homes, talking, eating, drinking, hugging, and yelling at the Lions, the higher the risk of catching or spreading this virus, and the higher the risk there is that the people we love will die,” Whitmer said.

She seems concerned about too much cheering for the Detroit Lions. But with a record of 37-40-2 on Thanksgiving Day games, there probably won’t been much to cheer about in Michigan, anyway.

Our friends at the CDC have provided its own guidelines for us:

“Have a small outdoor meal with family and friends. . . . Limit the number of guests. . . . If celebrating indoors, make sure to open windows.” I’m sure that’s going to work in Minnesota.

Along the same lines, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (not to be confused with CNN’s resident stand-up comic, Chris Cuomo) who consigned thousands to COVID deaths by ordering the infected back into nursing homes, has placed a ten-person limit on in-home gatherings. “New York follows the science,” Cuomo said. “We know indoor gatherings and parties are a major source of COVID spread.”

He’s a new author, you know. He wrote a book touting his “leadership” during the COVID crisis: American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic. Good for you, Andrew; I bet it will be a best seller in nursing homes.

And so it goes. As I was checking these rules out, and to be sure, there are a lot more out there, I was reminded of an episode of the old TV show, The Big Bang Theory. For those who haven’t seen it, it’s based on a relatively simple concept. It follows the lives of four nerds and their interaction with the world. One of the characters is Sheldon Cooper, a genius who earned his Ph.D. before he was old enough to vote.

In that episode, the other three nerds are meeting and partying at one of the other’s apartments, unlike their regular confabs at Sheldon’s. One of the other characters is trying to get Sheldon to go to his friend’s party, and tells him: “They’re all having fun over there.”

To which Sheldon replies, “Yeah, but they’re having fun wrong.”

Unfortunately, some believe that there is now a prescription for how to celebrate. But, fear not, the best is probably yet to come at the end of January when we get locked down again.

Realistically, the China virus is very serious. The inflated case numbers and political games aside, this is a threat. Unfortunately, too many have died and some even without consolation from Church and family. I’ve not been able to get into a hospital or nursing home to visit and take Communion to sick parishioners since March. I can’t figure out why it would be so difficult to have clergymen simply make an appointment at the hospital chaplain’s office, get screened, be suited up, if necessary, and be escorted to the proper room, especially those with non-COVID ailments.

But instead we can try to regulate how many we can have for Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, that’s the imperfect world in which we live. It makes prayers for those affected more important than ever.

Have fun the right way, and remember what you are truly thankful for and be sure to let God know! He’s the author of every good thing and deserves our humble thanks. After all, He gave us turkey and football and that may be the diversion we really need this year.

God bless you all.

(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him every Thursday [not this week] on Faith On Trial at 10 a.m. CT on IowaCatholicRadio.)