Kermit the Frog reports on Thanksgiving:

as he interviews 4 of 10 healed lepers!

(to see the story told including all the time-space travel navigations go to the link provided at the bottom of this post, at time stamp 39.30)

How many of you may have watched Sesame Street? It was a favourite in my home when I was growing up. In fact, when I was in university (still living at home in Jamaica) my dad and I used to come home at lunchtime to watch the 12.30 showing of Sesame Street. One of our favourite characters is Kermit the Frog, who functions as a news reporter.

Today, Thanksgiving 2023, we have Kermit the Frog of Sesame Street news time-travelling to Jesus’ day, when there was a miraculous healing of 10 lepers.

(play intro sound from the Kermit the Frog news reporter!)

Hello. My name is Kermit the Frog of Sesame Street news, and I am very happy to be reporting to you, thanks to our handy dandy time-and-space-travel machine and our expert navigator, from the two corners intersection between Samaria and Galilee, where, just earlier today, Jesus the Christ healed ten, yes you heard right folks, ten lepers, by simply telling them “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” We are going to interview some of these Lepers this morning, to see what they have to say about their thanksgiving for being healed.

Here, here we have leper #1:

Hello leper #1, I understand you are the Samaritan Leper, the one from south of the two corners, who came back to say thank you?

Leper #1: Yes, Yes I am. Jesus healed me and I was so very glad, there was simply no other way to show gratitude than to come back and throw myself down at Jesus’ feet. This leprosy was a horrible affliction, and as if being a Samaritan wasn’t bad enough, I wasn’t allowed into the temple, not allowed to worship with the Jewish people at all even though I am a believer in God just like they are. The laws you see, they kept me away … but Jesus didn’t mind all that, he healed me anyway. I didn’t even have to make it all the way to the priests, I just turned believing in what he said and boom, I was saved.

Well thank you very much Leper #1 … now our navigator will take us to Jerusalem, where we heard Leper #2 headed immediately following the healing.

(spin around to engage time-and-space travel)

And here we are in Jerusalem …. Hello, leper #2? The people are curious how comes you didn’t turn back to say thank you to Jesus when you were healed of your leprosy?

Leper #2: I said thank you, you know frog, but I did it in the way of my people. You see, I am Jewish and our central temple, kind of like our Vatican (if you will excuse my time-traveling comparison), is in Jerusalem. We have laws and statutes about how to give thanks, like it says in the first reading from today, I believe, so I wanted to make sure I did not forget the Lord my God and his laws and statutes, so I headed straight to Jerusalem, got a young calf from the sacrifice market, and had it fixed up just right for a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Yup, the priests had themselves a bit of a barbeque, so that’s how I said thanks!

Wow! Leper #2, here the studio audience thought you had just run off to celebrate with no concern for thanking Jesus, meanwhile you went off to thank God. Good for you ….

Moving right along before our commercial break, I heard Leper #3 returned to Leper colony central. Navigator please take us there. But we have to be careful, we don’t want to catch leprosy.

(spin around to engage time-and-space travel)

Hello, Leper #3, is it safe to come closer to you? We don’t want to catch the leprosy here in the leprosy colony. The question on everyone’s mind: have you been re-infected? Should we put on protective gear even to have this interview?

Leper #3: You know Frog, those are really good questions you’re asking today. If your Navigator took you forward in time to say the year 2000, you would find out that Leprosy isn’t nearly as contagious as we used to think. What will be modern medicine will learn this. But in our time, it is a death sentence of social isolation. The worst, absolute worst for me, was not having any news from the outside world, no hugs, no contact with the outside world. When I had the leprosy I promised God that, if only I would be healed, I would come back and work with the infected to show my thanks. You can’t actually get infected just from being here for a short period of time, so you don’t have to worry Frog. But this is why I came back to show my thanks!

Imagine that studio audience? Giving our thanks by preventing people from social isolation. Is there some way you could do that in your world? Maybe helping at the Food Bank? Or working in a harm reduction centre? I don’t know.

Incoming advise from our studio engineer: turkeys are in the oven and we only have time for one more interview. Ok Navigator, take us north a bit to Nazareth, I heard that Leper #4 went to visit Mrs Joseph, also known as Mary, mother of Jesus Christ … let’s hear what he has to say.

(spin around to engage time-and-space travel)

Hello Leper #4, how lovely to find you in Jesus’ hometown, we didn’t know you were a carpenter?

Leper #4: I wasn’t a carpenter before my healing. But when I was healed, I wanted to do something to help Jesus’ family. That was the best way I could think to give thanks, so I came north. Joseph was missing Jesus’ help because you know in the trades here, the sons usually work in the family business. I guess, Jesus being kind of a step son, if you know what I mean, Holy Ghost and Mary and all, is really busy out there preaching and teaching and bringing up disciples and healing. Which left Joseph here short his eldest son to help in the business. People don’t believe it, but Jesus won’t be around much longer. I know this to be true, because Jesus said so. So I thought, before the proverbial dung hits the fan, and their firstborn gets crucified, according to the prophecy, I’d make my way up here and get to helping Jesus’ parents, so that when the grief of losing their first born hits, someone can keep food on the table, and make sure the bills get paid. That was the best way I could think to give thanks. Pay it forward to the one who healed me, to his family.

What a good idea, Leper #4, you have shown us yet another way to give thanks.

Well, folks, studio engineer tells me I better wrap it up before the turkeys in the oven get dried out! We just want to point out that there are many many ways to give thanks, in the church or the temple, at Jesus’ feet, working with the socially isolated, or helping families in trouble or those for whom trouble may be on the horizon.

So from Sesame Street news, we just want to sign out now and thank you for spending a bit of your thanksgiving with us. God bless.

hear & see the news report here (starts at 39.30)