Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

I don't know about you but I aways make it a point to wake up early on the last Thursday of every November to make sure that I don't miss anything on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I'm not ashamed to say that I love it! It makes me feel like a kid again for at least three hours. I'm not alone in this, either. Millions of Americans share my sentiments and have been doing so for 85 years while the smell of turkey and stuffing take over the house. This makes for many good memories!

The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade took place on November 27, 1924, and its early years are much more interesting than you might expect.
According to Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, by Robert M. Grippo and Christopher Hoskins (2004; Arcadia Publishing), many of the employees of the world's largest retail store (at that time) were first generation immigrants. They were so thankful to America and to New York for the opportunities that they had been given that they decided to celebrate their good fortune with a tradition rooted in the festivals of their homeland: parades!
While today we enjoy samplings of Broadway plays and musicals, high-school marching bands, colorful floats, and gargantuan balloons, the 1924 parade looked much different. The parade was a 6 mile trek that began at 145th Street and ended at Macy's flagship store on 34th Street. It consisted of floats, professional bands, clowns, and live animals rented from the Central Park Zoo.
For many decades we have been watching the parade run from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. EST, but in 1926 Macy's adhered to a 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. time slot to honor President Calvin Coolidge's Thanksgiving Proclamation that recommended that people "cease from their daily work, and in their homes or in their accustomed places of worship, devoutly give thanks to the Almighty for the many and great blessings they have received, and seek His guidance that through good deeds and brotherly love they may deserve a continuance of favor." By 1927 Macy's president, Jessie L. Strauss, announced that the parade was going to be " bigger and better than ever before". And he delivered. They were able to replace the live animals with balloons made by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. The first balloon was Felix the Cat.
In 1928, they started filling the balloons with helium. There were only 5 balloons that year, but as each balloon reached the parade's end at Macy's storefront they would be released into the air, free to go where the wind would take them. These balloons were equipped with timed safety release valves that would allow them to float for up to a week.
Macy's did want their balloons back, so they hatched a plan to sew address labels into the fabric of the balloons. If the finders would return the balloon to Macy's, they would receive $100 as their reward. Today's equivalent value would be $1265 per balloon!
In 1929, ten balloons were released and $50 per balloon was rewarded for its return. In today's economy, that's $632! That year, newspapers notified people living in the vicinity of Roosevelt Island of prevailing winds sending balloons in their direction.
By 1930, fifteen balloons were paraded and a Macy's designer broadcasted a message over the radio advising residents of the Eastern Seaboard to watch the skies, balloons might be heading their way.
I suspect (and I may be wrong) that Macy's encouraged the beneficiaries to spend their money in their store. But nevertheless, it was a wise investment for Macy's and a good deal for the claimants.

In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus relays a parable about the servants and the talents. By talents we don't mean unique God-given abilities that it seems like so few of us actually have, and even though it speaks of money, it's not really so much about money. It's about understanding God's economy and how it relates to us, understanding the correlation between responsibility and blessing, and then finally, identifying where we fit in the picture.

A wealthy man, perhaps a king, sets out to travel into a far country. But before he does, he calls three of his servants to him and distributes a portion of his funds to them with the expectation that his resources would be handled responsibly, and invested in a way that would yield a good return. The man was wise enough to consider that all three men were at different stations in life and would perform at different capacities.To the first servant he gave 2 talents, to the second he gave 3, and to the third he gave 1.
Upon the rich man's departure, the first two servants traded, invested, and dispersed their money in ways that brought great profit. The third servant went and buried his talents. Why would he do this? Did he feel slighted? Did he consider his amount insignificant? Perhaps he was greedy, lazy, or busy with other things. Maybe he even thought his lord would overlook such a small thing.
The lord returns and calls a meeting that the servants may give an account of their stewardship. The results will be judged and the lord will respond accordingly.
The first two servants display their progress and it is shown that they doubled their talents. The rich man is pleased with the results and calls them "good and faithful". He then blesses them with honor and more responsibility and tells them that they can be partakers of his joy.
Due to his own fault, the third servant is not so fortunate. He brings no inflated return to the rich man's coffers. He claims that his master does not need his help or his contributions because certainly, a man who is independently wealthy would never see the value in a meager two talents. He claims, because of his own status, that he is afraid and that his instinct for self-preservation wouldn't allow him to do it.
His master found this unacceptable, and called the servant "wicked and slothful". He would never enter into this sphere of joy because he had squandered away his opportunity by inactivity. Shame, ridicule, and regret were his companions.

Perhaps God's blessings are different than you might have ever thought. Blessing and responsibility are so closely connected as to be virtually inseparable. In fact, they are two sides of the same coin!
His blessings come from above (James 1:17) with a return address label (like a balloon). But there is no real reward in just keeping it to yourself. He wants you to divide and invest it that it may draw interest, and benefit not only you, but the King and His economy. Not only will we be rewarded, but we will have the privilege of being called "good and faithful" servants. We can know what true joy is by not keeping God's goodness to ourselves. We could choose to claim fear and self-preservation as a motive for sitting on our hands but, in the end, all we would have to show for it is shame and regret.

God fills each person's cup to their own personal capacity with blessings. When we add initiative, it becomes overflowing. When a cup overflows it trickles down and disperses. Oftentimes, we say that God had blessed us through providing for us, or even opened up a door for us when we had no place to turn. But do you see the responsibility in it? Do you honor Him through it? Do you use these blessings to turn around and touch other people's lives with them?

It is easy to see how rich God is in His goodness to us when we speak of His love for us, His sacrifices, His compassion, His mercy, His patience, and His grace! But what do we do with that? Absorb it? Or do you let these Godly characteristics spill out from you onto others? Are you impacting God's economy by giving back to Him by touching the world? That's what this is really all about.

Over 80 years ago, Macy's employees poured out their heart to New York. People were told to look up because something would be coming their way. Return would be rewarded, and the parade would continue to grow in size and bring joy to millions of people for years to come.

I hope that we can all learn from Macy's and, perhaps, view it a little bit differently the next time we watch it.