The Fourth Thursday of November

Neon Memes • This postliterate age―whose "natives" seemingly pride themselves on the profound disconnect underpinning their vaunted connectivity―often scants the numinous nature of names in specific and the wizardry of words in general. The ancient Greeks, of course, conceived of hybris long before the recording of Genesis 2:19–20. In that regard, consider this coming Thursday. Somehow or other, disgracefully, its name has become synonymous with excess: with wolfing down emetic quantities of turkey and dressing, candied yams and pumpkin pie; with succumbing to the zombie depredations of multiple televised football brawls; with packing the Taser and tear gas to participate in the frenzy of Black Friday. Even to a devout secularist, the sacred has transformed into the profane; even to a confirmed agnostic, a shameful travesty has supplanted the simple bliss of gathering with family and friends to celebrate a bountiful harvest in Plymouth in 1621. However, in a year as prodigious as this, a year of dullest dross and brightest gold, would it be unthinkable for Americans to pause, if only for a moment, to reflect on the whys and wherefores of the holiday's name―and to consecrate that moment to heartfelt appreciation, to gratefulness, to thanksgiving? ―Bryan A. Hollerbach, Managing Editor