Ep. 300 - Tales From the Thanksgiving Table

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[00:01:19] Happy Thanksgiving everybody. Welcome to the Thanksgiving episode of Just Listen to Yourself.

[00:01:26] This is a podcast where we take hot topics, hot button issues and we discuss the talking points on those topics and we draw those talking points all the way out to their logical conclusion.

[00:01:36] But today isn't one of those days. We're not going to break anything down. We're going to talk about thankfulness.

[00:01:42] We're going to use this week just to ponder and to contemplate.

[00:01:47] And so in service of that, rather than using this time to make us anxious about the political and cultural stuff going on, I thought we would focus on the holiday, focus on Thanksgiving and what it means.

[00:02:04] And so in that respect, I have collected some Thanksgiving stories from the Internet, really from Reddit.

[00:02:13] I love Reddit. I'm always trolling it. So there's great stories in the comments section there about some funny and awkward family Thanksgivings.

[00:02:21] I thought that would be fun to read through and maybe reminisce about some of our own awkward Thanksgiving experiences.

[00:02:29] If you would like to share yours, if you have a good one, share it with me.

[00:02:32] JLTY at ProtonMail.com JLTY at ProtonMail.com

[00:02:36] This is a holiday where we sit down and we remind ourselves about our blessings.

[00:02:43] And it is something that we have done since the nascence of this country.

[00:02:50] And I believe it is one of just one of the reasons why our country has been able to endure the shifting sands of cultural chaos, particularly what we've been through in the last decade or so.

[00:03:06] And I do know that I don't want to speak for God.

[00:03:12] You know, God's judgment comes when it comes.

[00:03:14] And we certainly aren't.

[00:03:18] We're not living lives that should be free of God's judgment, I guess, here in America.

[00:03:22] Right, God?

[00:03:24] America deserves God's judgment just as much as any other country.

[00:03:28] I'll say that.

[00:03:29] That being said, I think perhaps one of the things that has reserved God's extreme judgment on us for some of our sins like slavery, abortion, things like that, is the fact that we have taken time corporately over the years since the beginning of our country to step back as a nation and recognize the blessings of liberty and to be grateful for what God has given us.

[00:03:57] And I do believe that there is spiritual value in that.

[00:04:00] I've said it before on the show.

[00:04:02] But I think this year especially, especially, I feel like we are positioned to really absorb that reality.

[00:04:12] How many people have you said?

[00:04:14] You've probably said it yourself.

[00:04:16] Since election night, there seems to have been a spiritual shift in this country.

[00:04:21] I'm not saying Christianship.

[00:04:23] But there's something going on at a spiritual level, a psychological level that has happened in this country.

[00:04:30] And it is palpable.

[00:04:32] You can feel it.

[00:04:33] And we felt it in 2020.

[00:04:35] I told you guys this.

[00:04:36] I have said this consistently.

[00:04:40] America felt pretty dark after 2020.

[00:04:43] I don't care if you were a Biden supporter or you hated Trump.

[00:04:47] America got really dark.

[00:04:48] And we all felt it.

[00:04:50] Crime was up.

[00:04:52] The weirdness at the border.

[00:04:54] COVID strangeness.

[00:04:56] People distrusting each other.

[00:04:58] BLM.

[00:04:59] Antifa.

[00:05:00] It's been mass chaos.

[00:05:02] And I've said, if you look around, you feel like, wow, everything feels chaotic.

[00:05:06] How did it get like this all of a sudden?

[00:05:08] If it feels chaotic, it's because it is chaotic.

[00:05:12] Because honestly, we were in the wrong timeline.

[00:05:15] I don't think 2020 was supposed to happen.

[00:05:17] It was a coup of sorts.

[00:05:19] I had a Chinese person tell me, oh, you guys had a coup.

[00:05:22] You just don't recognize it as a coup.

[00:05:25] But that's what it was.

[00:05:26] And I'm not saying it was literally a coup.

[00:05:30] I don't know that.

[00:05:31] But that's just how I feel.

[00:05:33] And so it had spiritual ramifications is what I'm blathering on about.

[00:05:39] We felt it in our spirit.

[00:05:41] And what we felt on election night in 2024 was a release.

[00:05:47] There is something spiritual happening.

[00:05:50] And those things do affect American life and the trajectory of America.

[00:05:58] They really do.

[00:05:59] So I say all that to say it does matter that we all sit down as a nation.

[00:06:05] Corporately and recognize this day as a day when we point to a creator or something outside of ourselves and we say thank you.

[00:06:12] And we recognize the value of gratefulness.

[00:06:17] It has psychological value.

[00:06:19] It has health benefits.

[00:06:20] All of these.

[00:06:22] We you can.

[00:06:23] Dr. Jordan Peterson has some interesting things to say about the psychology and the physical benefits of gratefulness.

[00:06:30] I believe that because our founding fathers saw fit to set aside times when we do this.

[00:06:37] I do believe that in many ways and at many times it has spared us from God's rightful and righteous judgment.

[00:06:46] And I don't think it's an accident that so many people are trying to erase Thanksgiving and replace it with indigenous people's day, whatever, whatever.

[00:06:57] If you want to use it for that, I mean, I don't care.

[00:07:01] But the idea that as that corporately, it matters that we do these things corporately.

[00:07:06] It does.

[00:07:07] This is why I think it's important to put the Bible back in the classroom.

[00:07:11] You don't have to put a Bible curriculum in there if you don't want to.

[00:07:14] But it's perfectly fine to post the Ten Commandments or display a Bible in the classroom.

[00:07:19] It sets a corporate tone.

[00:07:23] Am I?

[00:07:24] It does that make sense?

[00:07:26] For corporate living.

[00:07:27] You're setting the culture.

[00:07:28] You do this in your family, right?

[00:07:30] You set the culture of your family.

[00:07:32] In my home, nobody enters this house.

[00:07:35] No stranger enters this house or guests without my children coming into the room to speak to them.

[00:07:42] So even when they were little, if they were upstairs playing and they were busy and we otherwise wouldn't want them in our faces,

[00:07:48] I still would demand they come downstairs.

[00:07:50] You greet our guests.

[00:07:52] You say hello.

[00:07:52] How are you?

[00:07:54] All the niceties.

[00:07:55] And then you can go back to whatever you're doing.

[00:07:56] Because in the Davis household, no one walks in this house without being greeted.

[00:08:02] This is your home and you are a host.

[00:08:05] You are expected to act as one.

[00:08:08] That's the culture of our family.

[00:08:12] Or my husband's company.

[00:08:13] They have a culture there.

[00:08:15] They do activities that set a certain culture for the company.

[00:08:22] And it sets a tone.

[00:08:24] So it does matter for us to corporately recognize gratefulness.

[00:08:29] And it does matter that there are people who want to remove that.

[00:08:33] I don't think that's an accident.

[00:08:35] And you should absolutely treat those people and their intentions with 100% suspicion.

[00:08:42] It is good for us to be thankful.

[00:08:46] In fact, the scripture is full.

[00:08:50] I mean, the scripture has...

[00:08:51] I just did a...

[00:08:52] I just went and did a Google search.

[00:08:54] I was looking through scripture because, you know, I think thankfulness is a godly principle.

[00:08:59] And we should go to the word to remind ourselves of that.

[00:09:03] But eventually I said, oh, there's so many scriptures to look up.

[00:09:07] Why don't I just do a listicle?

[00:09:09] I'll look up a listicle online.

[00:09:11] So many scriptures came up.

[00:09:14] There's...

[00:09:15] The Bible has so much to say about thankfulness and gratefulness.

[00:09:22] So this must be an important principle.

[00:09:24] And of course, as I've just said, when you practice that in your life, it bears itself out.

[00:09:31] And it doesn't matter what faith or religion you are.

[00:09:33] Even your therapist will tell you, practice your affirmations.

[00:09:36] Practice gratefulness.

[00:09:37] Thankfulness.

[00:09:38] So it's no accident that the Bible talks so much about thankfulness and gratefulness.

[00:09:43] And I have been making...

[00:09:47] I don't want to say an effort, but my mind has been changed about some things as I've hit 50.

[00:09:52] And I'm starting to see the world a little differently.

[00:09:55] And I've started to take...

[00:09:56] I've started taking the Bible literally.

[00:09:59] And I know as Christians, some of y'all are like, yeah, I take it literally.

[00:10:02] But do we?

[00:10:04] Do we take it literally?

[00:10:07] There's a lot of stuff in there where we might say, oh, well, this is symbolic or this is metaphorical or this is flowery language.

[00:10:16] For instance, I'll give you...

[00:10:18] But it's not.

[00:10:20] It is.

[00:10:21] The Bible is very layered.

[00:10:22] It is.

[00:10:22] But it can also be literal.

[00:10:24] I'll give you an example.

[00:10:26] This is a small example.

[00:10:29] The Bible talks about the healing power that you have as a person.

[00:10:35] You have the power to perform the miracles that Jesus performed.

[00:10:38] You have the power of healing in your touch.

[00:10:42] Now, a lot of people will say, well, yeah, that's like you can summon the Holy Spirit and, you know, God can work miracles through your hands, which is true.

[00:10:52] But there's also...

[00:10:55] There's also...

[00:10:56] This is basic medicine 101.

[00:10:58] There's also tons and tons of support for the idea that human touch is literally healing.

[00:11:06] If someone has a headache and you put your hand on their forehead, that actually conveys some energy.

[00:11:15] Energy sounds like an ethereal word, but it does convey, right?

[00:11:20] There's an exchange there.

[00:11:22] And it does release pain.

[00:11:24] Human touch eases pain.

[00:11:27] It's not for nothing that when your kid falls down and hits, scrapes their knee, you kiss it.

[00:11:34] Oh, mommy, make the poo-poo better.

[00:11:35] Right?

[00:11:36] That's not...

[00:11:37] That's actually not...

[00:11:38] We don't do that just out of nowhere.

[00:11:41] That doesn't just come out of nowhere.

[00:11:43] That's an evolutionary response to pain because human touch literally can ease pain and in some cases heal it.

[00:11:52] And probably we don't even know the extent to which we could use touch to actually heal.

[00:11:59] Not in this modern era.

[00:12:03] So figuratively, yes, there's power in human touch because the Holy Spirit works through us.

[00:12:07] But literally, there is power in it.

[00:12:09] So I've been taking the Bible more literally.

[00:12:11] So if the Bible talks about thankfulness this much, it must have extreme value for your well-being.

[00:12:19] Let's just look at a few here.

[00:12:21] 1 Chronicles 1634.

[00:12:23] Give thanks to the Lord for he is good.

[00:12:25] His love endures forever.

[00:12:26] 1 Thessalonians 518.

[00:12:30] Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

[00:12:35] Colossians 315.

[00:12:37] Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you were called to peace and be thankful.

[00:12:45] Colossians 317.

[00:12:46] And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

[00:12:54] Colossians 4.2.

[00:12:55] Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

[00:12:58] Philippians 4.6.

[00:13:01] Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

[00:13:10] I think that's really interesting.

[00:13:11] If you take the Bible literally, that thanksgiving is important, then why is it important that you begin with thanksgiving when going to God?

[00:13:19] Well, maybe there's an element of getting your spirit right.

[00:13:22] Right?

[00:13:23] Being able to have that full communication with the creator.

[00:13:27] Setting the right tone, the right culture for your spirit as you start your communications with God.

[00:13:36] Psalms 717.

[00:13:38] I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.

[00:13:48] Psalms 100.4.

[00:13:51] Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.

[00:13:54] Give thanks to him and praise his name.

[00:13:57] Psalms 106.1.

[00:13:59] Praise the Lord.

[00:14:01] Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

[00:14:03] His love endures forever.

[00:14:05] Hebrews 12.28.29.

[00:14:07] Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.

[00:14:15] For our God is a consuming fire.

[00:14:19] And let's end with this.

[00:14:20] I mean, there's more.

[00:14:21] There's hundreds more.

[00:14:22] There's hundreds more.

[00:14:23] 1 Timothy 4.4-5.

[00:14:25] For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

[00:14:36] So giving thanks is really, really important.

[00:14:40] And it's important, I think, to give thanks with people that you care about.

[00:14:45] In this day and age, I've talked about the epidemic of loneliness, and I really do want to drill down on this more on this show, because now that we're coming out of our COVID haze, we're starting to really live out the consequences of what we did.

[00:15:01] And it's starting to become evident.

[00:15:03] And just watching how isolated people are.

[00:15:06] And also, after the election, how comfortable so many people seem to seem cutting off their family because of Trump.

[00:15:22] The enemy's done a number on us.

[00:15:24] You know what I mean?

[00:15:25] The enemy's done a real number on us.

[00:15:27] One of the greatest strengths of God's kingdom is community.

[00:15:32] And so right from the start, you know, Christ, we see all the examples in how God creates, what the Garden of Eden looked like, and what Christ embodied in his walk on earth.

[00:15:45] And in the Garden of Eden, excuse me, Adam was alone, but God saw that wasn't good.

[00:15:50] He was the only other.

[00:15:51] He wasn't alone.

[00:15:52] There were obviously other, there were probably other entities and animals, and I'm sure there were other things that we can't imagine.

[00:16:00] But there was none like him there.

[00:16:02] There were no humans there.

[00:16:05] God created community for him.

[00:16:07] He gave him Eve and Christ when his ministry began.

[00:16:10] I mean, he grew up in a large family, and then he brought a family close to him, a community of apostles.

[00:16:17] So community is important.

[00:16:20] And when you disrupt community, that's evil.

[00:16:24] And that's usually the first thing socialists and communists will do.

[00:16:28] They try to disrupt community.

[00:16:29] What do they do?

[00:16:30] They break up the churches, right, where there's big community.

[00:16:33] That's one of the first things that happen in COVID.

[00:16:36] Strip clubs open.

[00:16:37] Churches closed.

[00:16:41] Community is so important.

[00:16:43] And so taking time to be with people that you love and respect, it matters.

[00:16:48] And the older I get, because I'm a nomad.

[00:16:51] Am I, I'm from a family of individuals.

[00:16:55] A lot of divorce.

[00:16:56] A lot of trauma.

[00:16:59] Lots of stuff.

[00:17:00] For lots of reasons.

[00:17:01] My particular family.

[00:17:04] My nuclear family is very scattered and we're not close.

[00:17:08] And that was my normal forever until quite recently.

[00:17:13] And now that I'm older, I'm realizing the value of making time for people.

[00:17:19] And yes, inconveniencing yourself to sit down with people and celebrate with them and share a meal with them.

[00:17:28] And I had a friend, I was talking to a friend at a wedding.

[00:17:31] We were at a wedding last week.

[00:17:33] And he, him and his girlfriend lived together.

[00:17:36] Y'all know how I feel about cohabitation.

[00:17:37] If you don't, go back and listen to the episode on cohabitation.

[00:17:42] We're talking, they're talking about marriage.

[00:17:44] We've been talking about when they're going to be ready for that.

[00:17:46] And he said, you know, I'm thinking if and when we do get married, we'll just do a courthouse wedding and then we'll have a party for our friends.

[00:17:54] Because really, what's the point of having people there for the ceremony?

[00:17:57] The ceremony is the boring part.

[00:17:59] We want to party with you.

[00:18:00] Let's party together.

[00:18:01] So we'll do it at the courthouse and then have a party.

[00:18:03] And I said, well, let me explain it to you.

[00:18:06] To which he rolled his eyes because he knows what I do for a living.

[00:18:10] And he knows I'm such a big mouth.

[00:18:13] And everything's a lesson from Kira.

[00:18:15] I'm sorry.

[00:18:15] That's just who I am.

[00:18:16] And so you rolled his eyes.

[00:18:17] And I said, here's why you get married in front of all those people.

[00:18:21] Because marriage isn't just a piece of paper.

[00:18:23] It isn't that the ceremony isn't just the boring part.

[00:18:27] It serves a purpose.

[00:18:29] You are vowing in front of God that you will love and cherish and honor this person for the rest of your life.

[00:18:37] The people in your audience are the people who are going to hold you accountable for that promise.

[00:18:42] That's why you do those vows in front of other people.

[00:18:46] It's not the party.

[00:18:48] And it's not so, I mean, it's nice to be able to wear a pretty dress up there and be the center of attention as the gal.

[00:18:53] I don't think the guys like it as much.

[00:18:55] It's not for that, though.

[00:18:57] It's not symbolic.

[00:18:58] It is quite literal.

[00:19:00] You are telling.

[00:19:00] That's why you do.

[00:19:02] You should pay attention to your guest list.

[00:19:04] You're telling these people, look, we're giving you permission to hold us accountable in the future.

[00:19:09] And we're saying you've been here to witness these vows.

[00:19:13] And so when we need help, you will be on the list of people we will turn to for support.

[00:19:19] So, yeah, these corporate celebrations do matter.

[00:19:23] And celebrating Thanksgiving together does matter.

[00:19:26] On that note, Thanksgiving isn't always the most comfortable of occasions, especially after a very contentious election.

[00:19:34] So I was inspired to go look up some awkward family Thanksgiving stories.

[00:19:38] And so I'm going to read you a few now.

[00:19:41] Let's go to a break, though.

[00:19:43] And when we come back, if you think you have experienced awkward Thanksgiving, some of these stories really take the cake.

[00:19:50] Or the sweet potato pie or the pumpkin pie, depending on where you fall down on that.

[00:19:56] All right.

[00:19:57] We'll be right back.

[00:20:05] All right.

[00:20:06] We're back with some awkward Thanksgiving stories.

[00:20:09] Do you guys have fights over food?

[00:20:12] Our family's pretty good about it.

[00:20:14] We were at this point.

[00:20:16] It's a well-oiled machine and we have a smaller nuclear family or close family.

[00:20:21] So we don't have a lot of moving pieces to deal with.

[00:20:25] And everybody kind of has their dish.

[00:20:26] I am a terrible cook.

[00:20:28] I don't really cook.

[00:20:29] I make mac and cheese.

[00:20:30] That's why I can make the mac and cheese.

[00:20:32] I got the recipe out of a box 100 years ago.

[00:20:35] And that's what I make.

[00:20:36] And my husband makes whatever meat.

[00:20:39] He likes to have at least two kinds.

[00:20:42] And my father-in-law always makes the sweet potatoes.

[00:20:46] And my sister-in-law makes the potato salad.

[00:20:49] And she makes a killer potato salad.

[00:20:52] I love her potato salad.

[00:20:53] And there are no raisins in the potato salad.

[00:20:56] It was certainly not.

[00:20:58] But people do get a little bit territorial over their Thanksgiving dishes.

[00:21:05] I don't know if you guys have had fights over a Thanksgiving dish at your house.

[00:21:09] If you have, I'd love to hear about it.

[00:21:11] JLTY at ProtonMail.com.

[00:21:13] Here's this one.

[00:21:14] Somebody wrote this story or contributed this story about their Thanksgiving dinner.

[00:21:20] They titled it all of this over potato salad.

[00:21:22] It was Thanksgiving night.

[00:21:24] And the majority of the family was at my grandparents' house.

[00:21:27] My aunts, I'll call them A and B, were setting up dinner when they realized that they both made potato salad.

[00:21:34] B got angry and stated that she was in charge of the potato salad.

[00:21:38] So A should just take hers back home.

[00:21:41] I said it would be no problem for us to, or excuse me, A said it would be no problem for us to have two because the family could enjoy both.

[00:21:50] Well, A became really angry for some reason later.

[00:21:53] So when B wasn't looking, she dumped the whole bowl in the trash.

[00:21:58] B found out and was so angry and offended.

[00:22:02] The two began to argue in the kitchen.

[00:22:05] Suddenly, A took a turkey knife and threatened to stab B if she didn't leave.

[00:22:10] At that point, one of my uncles called 911.

[00:22:13] But since he'd been drinking for quite a bit, he shouted, the house is on fire.

[00:22:17] And a few minutes later, a fire truck drove up potato salad in the trash.

[00:22:27] The turkey knife is missing.

[00:22:29] Somebody's got turkey knife in the house.

[00:22:31] And the fire department has been called.

[00:22:35] They got fined for prank calling and the whole family started to fight over who was going to pay for it.

[00:22:43] For the time being, my cousin and I went and hid from the yelling in a small room called the doll room.

[00:22:49] It was full of my grandma's old doll collection and pretty creepy.

[00:22:53] It sounds creepy.

[00:22:54] We were freaked out but stayed inside.

[00:22:56] It must be really bad outside.

[00:22:59] When on Thanksgiving, the scene in your Thanksgiving living room is so bad that you have to go hide in the creepy doll room.

[00:23:08] When we left the room, my cousin told him that the room was haunted and the older cousin suddenly tackled him and started to beat him up.

[00:23:15] My cousin was screaming and the family was yelling and the cops showed up and arrested three of my uncles.

[00:23:22] A bunch of people left and my grandma was just crying in the background.

[00:23:28] Finally, a couple of hours later, everything was back to normal.

[00:23:31] Sitting around the table were my grandparents, one aunt, one uncle, my beat up cousin, my older angry cousin, my parents and me.

[00:23:39] We all ate in awkward silence and nobody ate the potato salad since it actually ended up tasting gross.

[00:23:49] Wow.

[00:23:49] Okay, so one fire department visit, one visit from the police, one turkey knife, one fist fight, one bowl of potato salad in the trash, several arrests, one crying grandma.

[00:24:08] Wow.

[00:24:09] That is an epic Thanksgiving story.

[00:24:13] I bet the police are really busy on Thanksgiving.

[00:24:15] People are drinking.

[00:24:16] Emotions are high.

[00:24:17] Oh, if you're a police officer and you have a crazy Thanksgiving call story, please hit me up.

[00:24:25] JLTY at ProtonMail.com.

[00:24:27] I will even record you if you want to like get on and record something.

[00:24:30] We can do it as like a like a little just saying or something.

[00:24:35] All right.

[00:24:37] Next awkward Thanksgiving story.

[00:24:39] All right.

[00:24:40] This one is titled, well, that escalated quickly.

[00:24:44] I was having dinner with a female friend of mine on Thanksgiving since my dad was out of state spending the holiday at the time, spending the holiday with my at the time stepmom's family.

[00:24:56] My friend lived with her folks and she invited me and one other friend that happened to actually be her girlfriend.

[00:25:01] Her parents were super intolerant religious folks.

[00:25:04] Oh, no.

[00:25:04] And so she stayed in the closet when it finally came to when it came to family.

[00:25:09] Anyway, halfway through what started out as a pleasant meal, my friend's older brother, who somehow found out about the relationship, made a snarky comment about it.

[00:25:17] And things went absolutely nuts.

[00:25:19] The mom was crying.

[00:25:21] The dad was going nuts, yelling, swiping dishes off the table, throwing things at the wall.

[00:25:26] At one point, he pointed to me and said, you knew this, didn't you?

[00:25:29] In a scary manner, like he would jump across the table and beat me up.

[00:25:33] All the while, her older brother was sitting back with this smug smirk on his face.

[00:25:39] We all three got out of there as quick as we could.

[00:25:42] And we ended up getting dinner at Boston Market.

[00:25:44] My friend ended up moving in with their girlfriend and had to get a job because her trust fund was cut off almost immediately.

[00:25:50] As far as I know, she has not spoken to her family.

[00:25:54] And the brother was like, mission accomplished.

[00:25:59] Sis no longer has her trust fund.

[00:26:02] Oh my gosh.

[00:26:04] Oh my gosh.

[00:26:06] I, you know, sis is out for revenge because there's no way she doesn't have info on him as well.

[00:26:14] This feels like someone just pulled the nuclear option.

[00:26:18] I wonder what was going on between brother and sister before that.

[00:26:21] He knew this is a secret that the parents, that they wouldn't want their parents to hear.

[00:26:26] She must have pissed him off somehow.

[00:26:28] She did something.

[00:26:30] And now she doesn't have the trust fund.

[00:26:33] And brother is the favorite.

[00:26:36] Oh, delightful, privileged, awkward Thanksgiving.

[00:26:42] This is a cute one.

[00:26:43] And let's do this one.

[00:26:45] It's called I Can't Avoid a Mother's Death Flare.

[00:26:48] During Thanksgiving dinner as a kid, we decided to go to my mom's friend's house for dinner.

[00:26:53] Before we started eating, we had to say prayers.

[00:26:55] When it was my turn, I said, but mom, Jesus isn't real.

[00:26:59] Do I have to?

[00:27:00] The rest of the evening, I kept getting stares from my mother.

[00:27:06] I don't know what era this is from or what kind of community this is from.

[00:27:12] I so I just I do want to say, though, it's interesting that this popped up because today I was on Twitter X and I saw a Christian, someone who called themselves a Christian, complaining about Christians praying around the table over Thanksgiving dinner.

[00:27:28] She says, this makes me uncomfortable when Christians start praying over dinner in public because of my agnostic husband.

[00:27:36] I don't think you should force your views on other people.

[00:27:39] And I thought, gosh, what an odd thing as a Christian to say.

[00:27:44] Now, it seems like the storyteller in this instance, somebody was requiring them to pray, saying you pray.

[00:27:53] And I don't think you should do that as Christians.

[00:27:56] That is very awkward.

[00:27:57] And no, of course not.

[00:27:58] You absolutely should not ask someone to pray if you are not sure about their faith or require anyone around the dinner table.

[00:28:08] I don't even think around the dinner table, Christians.

[00:28:12] You know, you don't go around saying grace.

[00:28:15] It's dinner time.

[00:28:17] People are hungry.

[00:28:18] One person says grace.

[00:28:19] One person says grace.

[00:28:20] However, I don't think it is.

[00:28:23] It's a very common tradition to say grace over a meal.

[00:28:28] It's very common.

[00:28:30] It's just as common as the host telling everybody to please eat.

[00:28:34] If you don't believe in Jesus, if you don't believe in God or whatever God this person is praying to, I believe this even as a Christian, the polite thing to do is just sit silently.

[00:28:45] Now, I think this kid was right to say, hey, I don't believe in Jesus.

[00:28:49] Do I have to pray?

[00:28:51] And out of the mouths of babes, right?

[00:28:53] He shouldn't have been required to pray.

[00:28:55] But I felt it was really weird to read that from a Christian to say, oh, I get so uncomfortable.

[00:29:00] That's another cultural thing we've set in our family.

[00:29:05] Sometimes it is uncomfortable to bow your heads and pray when you're in a restaurant, right?

[00:29:11] We don't belabor the point.

[00:29:13] It's not for show.

[00:29:14] But we have always made it a point to be grateful for our food.

[00:29:17] Food is the most basic sustenance.

[00:29:19] And to eat out is a privilege.

[00:29:21] To pay someone else to prepare your meal and to eat something tasty and something you wouldn't usually have.

[00:29:29] That's a blessing.

[00:29:30] So we have always bowed our heads no matter where we are and said a prayer quickly.

[00:29:37] Always.

[00:29:37] And now our children do it automatically.

[00:29:40] They're embarrassed about all kinds of other things in public.

[00:29:42] But this is something they never question.

[00:29:45] And they never make a fuss about.

[00:29:48] And guess what?

[00:29:49] No one has ever made a fuss about it to us in public either.

[00:29:53] No one.

[00:29:54] And I have plenty of non-Christian guests who have sat at my dinner table.

[00:29:58] And we always pray.

[00:30:01] That's part of the culture in our home.

[00:30:03] And we have never asked any of them to pray.

[00:30:06] I've never even asked them to bow their heads.

[00:30:08] I've simply said, you know, warned them.

[00:30:11] Like, oh, we're going to say grace now.

[00:30:12] If you would, if you don't mind.

[00:30:15] We don't mind if you just want to sit there silently.

[00:30:18] That's it.

[00:30:19] That's all it takes.

[00:30:20] I feel like people make a bigger deal out of this than necessary.

[00:30:24] Anyway, that was cute from that kid.

[00:30:26] Yeah, absolutely, kid.

[00:30:28] You said the right thing.

[00:30:29] All right.

[00:30:30] This story is really cringy.

[00:30:32] It's actually called What He Said Was Beyond Cringeworthy.

[00:30:36] This happened on Thanksgiving a year or two ago.

[00:30:39] Everything was seemingly normal.

[00:30:40] My grandmother and I were finishing up the food preparations.

[00:30:43] My dad was waiting patiently.

[00:30:45] And we were waiting for my uncle to arrive.

[00:30:48] Knowing he was going to be late, as always, we started to eat.

[00:30:51] I will back this up by saying I'm not that close with this uncle.

[00:30:55] I really don't know him that well due to him avoiding my grandfather while he was alive.

[00:30:59] Eventually, he arrives for dinner and starts eating.

[00:31:02] The conversation started out normal with questions such as, what are you going to do after you graduate?

[00:31:06] And are you seeing anybody?

[00:31:07] And then it got silent.

[00:31:09] And then he busts into a story about the time he went to get a vasectomy.

[00:31:13] And they told him he was shooting blanks before he started talking about his bowel movement.

[00:31:18] This is all while we were eating.

[00:31:21] While no one was drinking at dinner, I sure wish the Monster Energy drink I was drinking was something a little stronger.

[00:31:28] So I could forget this ever happened.

[00:31:31] Wow.

[00:31:33] I.

[00:31:35] Awkward Thanksgiving conversations.

[00:31:39] I believe a lot of people are nervous.

[00:31:42] So I'm going to chalk that one up to just nervous energy.

[00:31:45] And people say crazy things when they're nervous.

[00:31:48] I bet you've got an embarrassing story that keeps you up at night.

[00:31:51] I don't.

[00:31:52] I do.

[00:31:52] I think a lot of and then this this poster said that, you know, this uncle hadn't come around while the grandfather was alive.

[00:31:59] So clearly there's a lot of tension in the family.

[00:32:02] And yeah, I'm going to chalk it up to just really not knowing the art of conversation.

[00:32:08] There's a great Curb Your Enthusiasm episode.

[00:32:10] I can't remember.

[00:32:11] I don't know what it's called, but it's about a dinner party and being how you have to.

[00:32:16] The table seating is vital to keeping the conversation flowing naturally.

[00:32:21] If you don't have a good middle, it's going to ruin the whole dinner.

[00:32:25] So at this at this dinner, Larry goes to they've got like two boring people in the middle and the the the dinner is so boring and they end up talking about paint samples.

[00:32:35] And finally, Larry's like, this is all wrong.

[00:32:38] You've got the wrong middle.

[00:32:40] You need I'm a middle.

[00:32:41] I'm a middle.

[00:32:42] So the whole energy of the party changes when they switch the middle.

[00:32:46] You've got to have a good middle at your Thanksgiving table.

[00:32:49] So make sure you've got a good conversationalist towards the center of the table.

[00:32:54] Now.

[00:32:55] This doesn't necessarily mean the most interesting person, but it's got to be someone who can keep several conversations going at once and who knows how to jumpstart conversations when things get awkward.

[00:33:11] Kira Davis, for instance, is a good middle.

[00:33:14] I can I can I can talk to a lot of different people about a lot of different things.

[00:33:19] I'm curious enough to want to hear what the answers are to whatever the topic is.

[00:33:25] And I do know how being as this is my job.

[00:33:28] I know how to keep conversations moving.

[00:33:32] Keep that in mind during your Thanksgiving place settings.

[00:33:37] Well, here's a fun Thanksgiving one.

[00:33:40] Here's one.

[00:33:41] It is titled low quality friend with high quality taste.

[00:33:45] Oh, I've had a couple of those.

[00:33:49] This person says I was six when this happened.

[00:33:51] Some of my mom's friends came over for a Friendsgiving dinner.

[00:33:56] The food was great, but one of the friends seemed really weird.

[00:33:59] We have two bathrooms in our house in our penthouse.

[00:34:02] The first one was under renovations, but the second was upstairs and free.

[00:34:06] All of our bedrooms and closets were upstairs.

[00:34:09] Our dinner finished and we were wondering where my mom's friend went.

[00:34:12] So we checked upstairs and the bathroom was free and no one was inside.

[00:34:16] We checked in my mom and dad's bedroom, which had a ton of jewelry, mind you.

[00:34:21] And she was inside grabbing jewelry from the closet.

[00:34:25] My mom kicked her out.

[00:34:27] We spent all night checking for missing jewelry.

[00:34:29] No jewelry was taken, but my mom never talked to her quote friend again.

[00:34:33] Oh my gosh.

[00:34:37] Wow.

[00:34:39] How messed up is it that if you steal from people on Thanksgiving, you're going to hell.

[00:34:48] You are going to hell.

[00:34:51] Wow.

[00:34:53] I don't know that I've ever had anything stolen by a party guest, but my son Scott has said that he's had several things stolen from his apartment by party guests.

[00:35:03] But I guess he also lives in a metropolitan area.

[00:35:07] So that's what happens when you have parties.

[00:35:09] Friends of friends come.

[00:35:10] But this sounded like this was this lady's quote friend.

[00:35:14] You got to be careful about your friends.

[00:35:16] Ladies, not every lady that is fun and nice to you is your friend.

[00:35:23] I've got a friend who's learning this the hard way.

[00:35:25] She's so open and got such a great spirit and so generous.

[00:35:31] And she also happens to be independently wealthy.

[00:35:34] And this is just how this is.

[00:35:37] I'm not going to explain it.

[00:35:39] That's the life she's living.

[00:35:41] And that's the blessing she's been giving.

[00:35:44] But she's not arrogant about she's a very she's an extremely generous woman and just very fun.

[00:35:50] I love her.

[00:35:51] And but because I say all that to say that because of that, she often attracts the due to the area we live in people who are clout chasers or people who like the fact that her money gives her some type of influence.

[00:36:04] And she's always taking on friends who seem really great and fun at first, but then they just turn into weirdo backstabbers or people who steal from her.

[00:36:16] And I just that is the one of the downsides of privilege, I guess.

[00:36:21] You have to be careful.

[00:36:22] Not everyone who's kind to you or nice to you is your friend and friendship needs to be tested.

[00:36:28] So there's nothing wrong with being excited about somebody, being excited about a new friend and diving in.

[00:36:35] I mean, that's always really fun.

[00:36:36] But you don't have to immediately trust a person.

[00:36:40] Trust has to be earned.

[00:36:41] So it really is OK.

[00:36:43] You don't have to be the person who's going to give the shirt off your back at step one.

[00:36:49] You can do that at step four or five.

[00:36:52] Because not everyone it's not that not everyone deserves the shirt off your back because probably no one deserves the shirt off your back.

[00:37:00] But not everyone needs the shirt off your back.

[00:37:03] And you won't know that until you know a person well enough to truly discern their needs.

[00:37:08] So.

[00:37:09] I don't know why I felt moved to give that message.

[00:37:11] I just did.

[00:37:12] Maybe somebody needs to hear that.

[00:37:13] OK.

[00:37:15] All right.

[00:37:16] Here is one story titled Table Six.

[00:37:20] This person you guys eat at the kids table.

[00:37:22] You have a kid's table and an adult table.

[00:37:24] When I was growing up, my I my family is weird.

[00:37:29] I have five different versions of family because divorce.

[00:37:33] But my first my stepdad's family was big.

[00:37:37] My family isn't big, but his family was big.

[00:37:39] And we didn't have a kid's table.

[00:37:41] We had separate eating schedules.

[00:37:43] We had a lot of kids.

[00:37:44] So kids ate first and then the adults ate second.

[00:37:48] That's how we did it.

[00:37:48] No kids table.

[00:37:49] But this is a very this is a story about a kid's table.

[00:37:52] This person was not impressed that this Thanksgiving.

[00:37:59] Only once did my family ever do a kid's table for Thanksgiving.

[00:38:02] And I'm pretty sure that I'm the reason they never did it again.

[00:38:05] I'm not sure where this kid's table idea even got started or why.

[00:38:09] But I'd heard of it before because I knew other people who were raised that way.

[00:38:13] Well, one year it was decided that's the way they'd be doing Thanksgiving.

[00:38:17] And then I had no say in the matter, which if I was 10, I probably have just learned to live with it and moved on.

[00:38:23] But that year I had just turned 19 years old.

[00:38:27] I had my driver's license, a job and had just voted for the first time in my life.

[00:38:33] And my older sister, for whom for some effed up reason was OK with this, had just gotten engaged.

[00:38:39] My a-hole teenager rationale at the time was that if I was old enough to vote and pay taxes like the other adults, then at least I could eat a damn meal like one.

[00:38:50] Eff it.

[00:38:50] I may have had no say in the seating arrangements, but I happily spent the rest of the meal ruining everyone's morale in between bites of food with my many rants and tangents.

[00:39:00] And to a room full of people I later found out weren't even invited ever to our house that year.

[00:39:09] If you do a kid's table at your house this year, rethink your criteria of what qualifies as someone being a kid less than 19 year old jerk does the same.

[00:39:19] That's so petty.

[00:39:22] OK, I you know what?

[00:39:25] This is petty, but I feel like everybody gets a pass here.

[00:39:28] I get it.

[00:39:29] I get it.

[00:39:29] So my son is in this situation.

[00:39:32] He's 22 and people are still putting him at the kid's table because he hasn't quite.

[00:39:37] He's in college.

[00:39:38] He's Gen Z.

[00:39:39] He's not quite an adult.

[00:39:42] So having the adult conversations and he's at an age where he's kind of young and he's cool.

[00:39:48] And so the kids love him.

[00:39:50] So he always ends up sitting at the kid's table because the kids always love hanging out with him.

[00:39:56] Frankly, I think he prefers to hang out with the kids than the adults.

[00:40:00] He's not adult enough yet to enjoy conversations about appliances.

[00:40:05] And he still plays video games.

[00:40:06] So I think he likes the.

[00:40:08] But yeah, I get it, though, because and then as an adult, it's really hard, especially when you only see certain family members every so often.

[00:40:18] You're not seeing your family members grow up and it's hard to look at them as grownups.

[00:40:23] And so.

[00:40:25] Yeah, you're 19, but your family is probably looking at you still like a kid, you know, you're still a little kid.

[00:40:31] It's hard to think of you.

[00:40:32] I think it's hilarious that this person was like, well, I'm just going to be a jerk.

[00:40:36] Yeah, that's one way to I don't know what this person said, but it's definitely a clever idea.

[00:40:42] Just start having all kinds of inappropriate conversations with the kids, the kids table.

[00:40:47] And you can be like, oh, well, I'm having adult conversations for the adult table.

[00:40:53] But someone's in my seat, I guess.

[00:40:57] Oh, boy.

[00:40:58] Yeah, I think kids tables are fine.

[00:41:00] I actually I prefer them when my kids were younger.

[00:41:03] It was much preferable.

[00:41:05] They could sit there and be silly with each other and make a mess at that little table.

[00:41:09] And then it's kind of like, all right, I tip it over and scrape it off and I can have a conversation at the Thanksgiving table.

[00:41:24] All right, here's another family brawl.

[00:41:26] Well, two of my cousins, adult women in their 30s and 40s.

[00:41:31] OK, this is important.

[00:41:32] Got into a brawl and it all started because of some soda that was spilled on the floor.

[00:41:36] My two cousins, let's call Maria and June, each have kids.

[00:41:40] Maria has a son, John, who at the time was two, maybe three.

[00:41:44] June has three kids from seven to 13.

[00:41:46] One night our family got together and had one Thanksgiving.

[00:41:51] We were having dinner at my aunt's house.

[00:41:53] June's middle son, Ray, was pouring soda for Maria's son in a cup.

[00:41:56] John moved the cup.

[00:41:58] Soda spilled on the floor and everyone started laughing.

[00:42:01] Ray got upset and screamed at him.

[00:42:03] Maria didn't take too kindly to that, told him to shut the F up and to pour him the soda.

[00:42:09] Ray started complaining and whining, which.

[00:42:13] OK, here's one that is.

[00:42:15] Oh, my gosh.

[00:42:16] I'm sorry to laugh.

[00:42:18] You're going to hell if you laugh at this.

[00:42:19] My grandmother ran over herself with her SUV one Thanksgiving.

[00:42:25] I was on my way to the festivities when it happened, so I don't know the exact details, but she was getting out food from the back of her SUV.

[00:42:32] She put it in neutral instead of park and it slowly ran over her.

[00:42:36] The craziest part is that my family all inside didn't notice until they heard a bump against the house.

[00:42:42] The SUV made three loops before hitting.

[00:42:44] She ended up being fine, but now isn't allowed to go outside alone anymore on holiday.

[00:42:54] This story is now the old grandma moment in our family.

[00:42:58] Oh, my gosh.

[00:43:03] This is a short one, but this person says my grandma accidentally poured dish soap on the turkey instead of oil.

[00:43:09] Might have been one of the funniest but most upsetting things ever.

[00:43:13] Oh, that's the worst when you have plans.

[00:43:16] I have a friend who had a beagle and they made the Thanksgiving turkey and they went out to, you know, say hi to her parents real quick and come back and eat their dinner.

[00:43:25] When they came back, the beagle had pulled the turkey off the counter and he had eaten the whole thing.

[00:43:32] And she the beagles aren't big dogs.

[00:43:34] She said you could see the turkey in his stomach.

[00:43:36] He was on the floor.

[00:43:37] He didn't even move when he walked in.

[00:43:39] And it was so bloated.

[00:43:46] And it's funny, I guess.

[00:43:48] Things go wrong.

[00:43:50] And I think when my kids were younger and I was doing Thanksgiving for a lot of family and you put pressure on yourself for these things to go right.

[00:43:58] I don't know why we do that.

[00:44:01] You know, I think I would have been upset if things didn't go right.

[00:44:04] But now I realize like, no, what does it matter?

[00:44:08] You know what?

[00:44:09] You burn the turkey, you pour dish soap on it, you call for pizza.

[00:44:12] That's that.

[00:44:12] And then that's your funny Thanksgiving story.

[00:44:14] It doesn't need to be a whole thing.

[00:44:16] And we put so much pressure on ourselves and it doesn't need to be perfect.

[00:44:20] It doesn't even need to be close to perfect.

[00:44:22] In fact, if it if everything fails and it's the worst, like of all your food fails, I mean, you know, all your dishes fail.

[00:44:30] Again, you just you order pizza, put on a movie and laugh about it.

[00:44:36] This person said this person says he thought of.

[00:44:40] Oh, boy, boys will be boys.

[00:44:42] I thought it would be a funny prank to put a rubber chicken in the oven on Thanksgiving.

[00:44:46] My mom would laugh and laugh.

[00:44:50] Oh, there's a rubber chicken in the oven.

[00:44:52] What a gag.

[00:44:53] Thirteen year old me didn't realize that normal adults usually preheat the oven before putting the turkey in.

[00:45:03] Oh, boy.

[00:45:04] Yeah.

[00:45:05] Yeah.

[00:45:06] Oof.

[00:45:07] I would be mad.

[00:45:09] I that I will laugh about it later.

[00:45:12] Well, I will be mad about it then.

[00:45:15] And here's one.

[00:45:16] I think this is a great one to end on in that respect.

[00:45:19] My family member was transporting our meal between houses in their car and slid off the road, sending the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, desserts, everything flying around the car into a massive swirl of messy destruction.

[00:45:31] It was just upsetting.

[00:45:33] I think we ended up ordering KFC that year.

[00:45:35] And yeah, because what are you thankful for when you feel yourself getting a little worked up?

[00:45:43] Pull back.

[00:45:44] Take a breath.

[00:45:45] Just realize this is one day.

[00:45:47] This is one meal.

[00:45:49] And.

[00:45:52] It's inconsequential in the in this.

[00:45:54] OK, if you have a bad day, that's fine.

[00:45:56] It really is fine to have a bad day.

[00:45:58] Then it's over.

[00:46:00] It's it's really OK to to get a kick out of having a bad day, too.

[00:46:04] You know, sometimes you got to laugh, I guess, is what you're saying to avoid crying.

[00:46:07] Um, but it you're not at Thanksgiving for a perfect experience.

[00:46:12] You're at Thanksgiving to remind yourself of the things you have to be grateful for.

[00:46:17] Sometimes that means being at Thanksgiving with your crazy, annoying, maddening family that makes you feel unwanted and makes you feel unaccomplished and triggers all of your, you know, whatever from your childhood.

[00:46:33] Sometimes even being with them remind can remind you of the things you're grateful for in your life now and how far you've come.

[00:46:40] There's value in it is what I'm saying.

[00:46:42] So don't don't shy away from it.

[00:46:46] Don't be afraid of it.

[00:46:47] I challenge you to take what could be an uncomfortable experience this Thanksgiving and maybe make it into an opportunity, another opportunity for you to remember all of the things you're grateful for.

[00:46:59] I'm grateful for you.

[00:47:00] I hope you guys have some fun Thanksgiving stories.

[00:47:03] Share anything fun or weird or crazy you go through this Thanksgiving.

[00:47:08] I want to hear.

[00:47:09] I want to hear it all.

[00:47:10] JLTY at ProtonBail.com.

[00:47:12] I'll definitely do a holiday episode to read these.

[00:47:15] Had so much fun.

[00:47:17] Guys, do not miss the special Thanksgiving Day episode this this year.

[00:47:22] I'm reading a sermon from 1853 from Dr. Charles Wadsworth that will blow your mind.

[00:47:28] Could be written in 2024.

[00:47:30] I read it for fun and I was so moved by it.

[00:47:34] I was like, I got to read this to JLTY.

[00:47:36] How do I do this?

[00:47:38] I thought, OK, this is a great excuse for a Thanksgiving episode.

[00:47:41] You know, we don't have to think too hard about anything.

[00:47:43] We're not talking about politics on this day.

[00:47:45] This was a great, great sermon.

[00:47:49] It is about Thanksgiving, but it also is about the duty of every Christian in political life as well as social life.

[00:47:57] So you won't want to miss it.

[00:47:59] Go ahead.

[00:48:00] Make sure if you're not subscribed, hit the subscribe button on whatever platform you're on so you don't miss it.

[00:48:05] It gets downloaded directly to your box.

[00:48:07] Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

[00:48:09] I hope your turkey day is as fun and exciting and satisfying as election night.

[00:48:18] Happy Thanksgiving.

[00:48:21] Happy Thanksgiving.

[00:48:21] I pray, Lord, my soul today.

[00:48:24] That we won't miss faith.

[00:48:25] Then we won't miss faith.

[00:48:26] All we got is us.

[00:48:28] No one can take that away.

[00:48:29] So don't miss faith.

[00:48:31] It's going to be OK.

[00:48:32] I pray, Lord, my soul today.

[00:48:35] That we won't miss faith.

[00:48:36] Then we won't miss faith.

[00:48:37] All we got is us.

[00:48:39] No one can take that away.

[00:48:41] So don't miss faith.

[00:48:42] It's going to be OK.

[00:48:44] This has been a presentation of the FCB Podcast Network, where real talk lives.

[00:48:51] Visit us online at fcbpodcasts.com.