“I saw the Christmas lights being strung across the city streets, and I saw the tinsel, and the Santa Clauses in the store windows . . . and I knew Thanksgiving was not far away.” The Rev. Peter Gomes, Harvard’s chaplain, Bates alum and Plymouth, Mass., native, said in a sermon published along with others in 1998.

One friend shared that sermon with us and I then shared it with other friends. The message: The real context of Thanksgiving is God, or nature, if you prefer, or the universe. Never mind the name.

Thanksgiving is not just the last Thursday in November in the U.S. of A., and — political correctness often disappoints — it’s not Turkey Day either.

And while Thanksgiving returns us to the Pilgrims’ story of courage and determination, the celebration rightly viewed, also reminds us of gifts of the beauty — in people and places — all around us.

Thanksgiving is an American-original holiday. It does not involve race, religion, sexual orientation or country of origin.

Here in the River Valley — and all across the country, according to the evening news — individuals and organizations are coming together to make Thanksgiving real for people with hard luck.

The food pantry at Assembly of God on the Andover Road is working to provide dinner for 100 families. The food pantry at the Green Church in Mexico welcomes dollars that will enable them to buy turkeys for their families in need (Hannaford is providing all the trimmings).

There’s a food pantry that serves people in need over Hartford/Sumner way, too. The Church on the Hill in Dixfield again is serving Thanksgiving dinner on the day.

Holidays shine a light on these fine works, but they continue quietly throughout the year. It’s never too late to pitch in.

Seasonal segue

In that same sermon, the Rev. Peter Gomes pointed out that Thanksgiving launches us into the Christmas season, the season of hope, and the season, as he put it, of the second chance.

No wonder, in this darkest time, we light up our lives with street lights and candles in the windows and celebrations. A parade, for instance: Friday, Dec. 4, stepping off from Hosmer Field at 6 p.m., Jim and Carrie Rinaldo will be marching ahead of the Rumford Performing Arts float — one of 11. RAAPA rules Dec. 5 and 6.

Dec. 12 at 7 p.m., Thea Dunn’s children’s pageant and Holy Savior Choir in Rumford’s municipal auditorium, and more.

Linda Farr Macgregor is a freelance writer.