Cover Story: Enjoy this Season of Gratitude

We’re thankful for—holiday traditions

‘OUR’ THANKSGIVING—Stephanie Fenton reports on origins of “our” Thanksgiving. In this week of family prayers, she also offers a challenging quiz on prayer in America.
DON’T POTCHKE! FeedTheSpirit columnist Bobbie Lewis explains this Yiddish term and serves up a recipe for a terrific side dish!
LOVE FRESH BREAD? Get Lynne Meredith Golodner’s Flavors of Faith: Holy Breads and you’ll wow guests with homemade bread.
HOLIDAY SLIDERS? Sound crazy? Godsigns columnist Suzy Farbman says it’s one of her family’s fond traditions.
HAPPY AS A SWAN? Enjoy Debra Darvick’s holiday-themed His Lens/My Pen.
HOW DO YOU COMPARE? All this week, sociologist Wayne Baker is reporting an OurValues series about Americans’ Thanksgiving plans and attitudes. PART 1—Are you traveling for Thanksgiving? See how you compare.
- PART 2—Is “mutant turkey” on your menu?
- PART 3—Is the holiday cheaper this year?
- PART 4—Should we boycott Black Thursday?
- PART 5—Do you know the “three and out” rule?

NEWS FROM MSU ‘BIAS BUSTERS’—This nationally known team of student journalists launches a new series to help Americans understand the mysterious realm of religion. Here’s the story on why they began their series with Muslim Americans.
OUR HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE—This is the moment to make thoughtful choices in holiday shopping. Our Gift Guide helps to make peace, end bullying and spark some healthy laughter.
INTERFAITH PEACEMAKERS—Are you thankful for diversity? Enjoy these 100-plus free stories from Interfaith Peacemakers.
BULLYING IS NO LAUGHING MATTER—This week, enjoy the Gil Thorpe comic strip in our anti-bullying comics section, and discuss with friends how a simple act of solidarity can make a big difference.
SEE ALL THE HOLIDAYS—Columnist Stephanie Fenton’s master calendar reminds us that many holiday traditions circle our globe at this time of year. This week, she brings us separate stories on two Baha’i holidays, as well as American Black Friday, St. Andrew’s Day and the start of Western Christian Advent.

NEWS FROM BELFAST, MAINE—The “City of Compassion” along Penobscot Bay held it’s first-ever community-wide Season of Gratitude gathering. Enjoy this inspiring story—and video, too!
RENAMING A HOLIDAY—More Americans are using the phrase “Season of Gratitude” to celebrate the Thanksgiving season. This was Abraham Lincoln’s original idea when he inaugurated the annual practice of a nationwide Thanksgiving holiday—a surprising declaration in the depths of the Civil War. ReadTheSpirit has many resources to help you creatively celebrate a Season of Gratitude. Begin with our Lincoln Resource Page, which is packed with fresh ideas!
LINCOLN PRAYER FOR THANKSGIVING—Lincoln scholar Duncan Newcomer drew on Lincoln’s own words to create this prayer you are free to use for your own Thanksgiving.
AN EPIC THANKSGIVING? OurFaithGoes Pop columnist Ken Chitwood writes about Epic Meal Time’s “take” on Thanksgiving.

MOCKINGJAY (PART 1)—We’ve got two points of view on the debut of the hot new Hunger Games movie. First, faith-and-film reviewer Edward McNulty gives the gripping new movie 4 out of 5 stars. Then, columnist Jane Wells offers a thoughtful reflection on the new movie’s themes of peace and violence.
CITZENFOUR—Ed McNulty gives 4.5 stars to the story of Edward Snowden.
LOW DOWN—Ed gives 4 stars to this somber story of a jazz pianist.
STRIPPER THEOLOGY? No kidding. FaithGoesPop columnist Ken Chitwood tells us a weird tale of Stripper Theology. Weird? Check out Ken’s story.