Many people rush about when the Yuletide season comes. For them, Christmas brings lots of reasons to make merry and feel the chill and cheer of the occasion. As believed by most populations, December is the birth month of the Lord Jesus Christ, although no evidence was laid as to the truth of the claim. Still, resisting the facts, the known ‘Christendom’ celebrates.

Incidentally, the Members Church of God International commemorates its Thanksgiving of the Congregation At-Large on December 27-29, two days after the world celebrates its ‘feast’. However, this Thanksgiving should not be taken as an offshoot of Christmas. It is something else.

The festivity which MCGI commemorates this December is a cut above the yearly Christmas which is a pagan rite. Of course, with all the cheerful lights and sounds of the season, Yuletide is sure color-bound. Yet this celebration has been shrouded for so many years with a thousand details dismantling its assertion, proving time and again that it is another religious artifice. But the Thanksgiving that the congregation in the Church of God celebrates is unique – a rare event not hosted in any other religious denomination, to say at most. Most importantly, it is Biblical.

During the third quarter thanksgiving held on October 4 and 5, Bro. Eli Soriano, the Church’s presiding minister, announced that the next thanksgiving rite would fall on December 27 – 29, a three-day spiritual jaunt instead of the usual two. Sure enough, the three-day affair is the same as Moses’ request to Pharaoh to let the Israelites go and worship God in Horeb. Recounting the incidents, the Bible narrates that through the mighty hand of God, Moses freed the Israelites from their 430 years of captivity in Egypt. The last and worst plague, the killing of the first born from human to livestock, prompted the Pharaoh to release the Israelites. Amidst the loud cries in Egypt, there was peace in the houses of Israel. The part of the story ends with the release of the Israelites, a brief chase of chariots, to the drowning of the Egyptians at the Red Sea. Then Moses offers a song exalting God for His salvation. Then, their sojourn to the Promised Land continues.

This act by Moses is considered a way of thanking God for His mercy towards Israel. Who would not, in light of gratitude?

From that, a number of Biblical personages rise to the same cause. King David, for example, has composed a bulk of songs of praise and worship to God, all compiled in a single collection named Psalms. From his first victory over Goliath to this reign in Israel, David would have all reasons to be thankful, indeed. Aside from his God-given talent, being a lyrist and a singer at King Saul’s court, King David even had four thousand singers to continuously sing their hearts out in praise of God. A true spirited thankful will not do that, unless he has valid motives. And in that case, King David is. Who would not, in light of blessedness?

When Christianity set in, that was after the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven and the persecution among Christians began, Paul, who was then a zealous son-of-the-Jewish-law-and-tradition and later gave up his former belief for acquiring a better one, had this to say, in one of his epistles directed to the believers in Thessalonians. And the verse says, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” What did St. Paul mean when he said, “In everything…?” He couldn’t be clowning around. The word ‘everything’ is everything. Is there anything to exempt in everything? In other words, St. Paul speaks of all circumstances. Good or not-so-good, give thanks. After all there is a famous line to speak of it – the optimistic ‘blessing in disguise’. Sounds familiar?

And there’s more. St. Paul couples that reminder to the Thessalonians a similar admonition to the faithful at Colosse, when he said: “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.”

This is exactly the peace that the Yuletide followers are trying to capture in their yearly December accolade. Unfortunately, it does not happen. The annual Christmas only tends to bring a number of sad incidents nobody wants. In the Philippines alone, the celebration is an extravagant show-off, a mock-up of what Yuletide celebrators are supposed to keep up with. Sadly, the same pretense is catching up with the rest of the world. Many people assert that Christmas is a time of sharing, giving, and loving. Is December the only month they could celebrate it? Does that mean that after it, there’s another picture?

Unlike Christmas, this celebration of thanksgiving by MCGI is not spooned by orthodox dogma of some other religious orders, like the Protestants, who have claimed separation from the Catholic doctrine yet is continually venerating the Yule. A handful of research tells that the December celebration is the fruit of the Romans’ lawless Saturnalia, a day devoted to extensive drunkenness, illicit sexual activities, and a brutal murder of an innocent victim symbolizing the ‘lord of Misrule’, which drops on December 25th. The Romans believe that by killing the ‘representative’ of the lord of Misrule, they are doing away with the forces of evil. This means, the global celebration of Christmas is a symptom of a deeply-rooted ‘global spiritual crisis’, simply because celebrators care less for the disgraceful origin of their colorful occasion. So if the purportedly ‘Christians’ of today celebrate the feast and put the birth of the Savior in coincidence to the Saturnalia, what a disgust!

On the better hand, MCGI’s thanksgiving is anchored on its Biblical forerunners. From Moses, to King David, to St. Paul, the observance of Thanksgiving to the Lord is a well-venerated experience. There’s always the feeling of pax in all circumstances surrounding the rite. There’s no need for carolers, for in every corner of the thanksgiving center, a slight hum invites all avid singers to join, less the miserly practice of coin-dropping. The sense of togetherness is felt extensively in the warm smiles, and eager invitations to get a mouthful of what each has. There’s no need for costly parties, for the celebration is a complete package in itself. Rich and poor share the same floor, hear the same sound, learn the same thing. The peace that the prophets had in praising God is the same peace that the Church experiences every time it renders thanksgiving to the Lord – pure and lasting. For who does not attain peace when one sings to God from a pure heart? For it is God who said, “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins…”

The journey to a three-day feast of Thanksgiving has begun. Once again, the Members Church of God International shall sing and rejoice before the Lord of Hosts. For another fruitful round, God’s eternal kindness will be manifest, and the warmth of His love will spread on this cold season. Once more, as God had declared afore, many will gather in His name to seek Him. Just as the righteous has spoken, ‘Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will also go.’

That’s how December ought to be celebrated – the Christian way. Merry Thanksgiving!