Approximately 45,000,000 turkeys are desperately hoping for a pardon this Thanks-giving season.
Turkey pardoning was first mentioned by President Harry Truman in 1947, but there is no evidence to support that he actually pardoned the turkey. Uh oh.
President John F. Kennedy spared a turkey days before his assassination, but the bird never received a formal pardon.
President George H.W. Bush was the first to officially pardon a turkey, and this practice has since become a White House tradition. President Bush sent the pardoned turkeys to Frying Pan Park in Fairfax County, VA. The birds’ new home thus serves as a perpetual reminder of the grace they received.
In 2005 the pardoned turkeys became regulars in Disney’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as the honorary grand marshals.
Tomorrow, President Obama will grant a presidential pardon to a Thanksgiving turkey named “Courage.” Courage will then head to Disneyland in California to join the annual Thanksgiving Day parade.
Pardoned turkeys travel to their parade destinations in First Class, as seen here. (Your tax dollars at work!)
It’s an amusing tradition, but there’s a message, too! Have you ever con-sidered the parallels and distinctions?
The most obvious parallel is… What a bunch of turkeys we are! How doomed we are because of our sin, and how desperately we need a pardon!
Furthermore, turkey pardons remind me that the pardon is not earned. It is a gracious gift bestowed on the undeserving.
But the most glorious fact of all is this: There is not just one pardon available. Not one in 45 million, but “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” * And no matter the crime, “He will abundantly pardon!” #
So this Thursday, let’s make our first order of business giving thanks… for our pardon.
Blessings,
* Acts 2:21
# Isaiah 55:7