Guess Who's Coming to Thanksgiving Dinner

While taking my usual walk on the neighborhood paths this week, I heard music critic Milo Miles of NPR fame discuss his dream guests for Thanksgiving dinner. His choices were not unexpected and included Bach, Mendelssohn, and Leonard Bernstein. I begin to also think about possible guests of my own for a Thanksgiving dinner. Mine would be Jesus, Paul, and Mary Magdalene.

Jesus, of course, for Christians would be an obvious choice since we would all have so many questions to ask of Him. What, for example, does He think of the modern social issues which are the topics of our discussion in Protestant churches, i. e. abortion, homosexuality, divorce, and so on? I suspect that His answer would be that, if He thought them extremely important, He would have specifically addressed them in His teaching. It is enough perhaps to know of His suffering, His extreme patience with all who would be His followers, His sacrifice for humanity, and His unconditional love.

The apostle Paul, however, might be more of a challenge to those who have for years questioned his position on women in the New Testament. Was it, for example, only in the context of specific New Testament churches that he cautioned women not to speak? Or was it a universal, everlasting admonition? He has been labeled as a sexist for years by feminists.

Mary Magdalene has also suffered in reputation through the past two thousand years and has been labeled a prostitute, though she was one of Jesus' closest disciples. Is it true that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church simply developed this myth to shrink the role of women in the church?

The dinner would be an intimate gathering of just four people. We would skip the ham, of course, and serve turkey only to this Jewish crowd. By the end of the evening, I would hope to be far more enlightened on the mysteries of their lives and teachings. I would also hope to be a better person in the future because of it.