It Really Does Mean Giving Thanks
November brings cold, gray days, barren trees, stripped of their Fall glory and the in between month before we get the harsh winter weather. For early settlers in what was to become our United States, it meant the end of the harvest season and a time to store away as much harvested crops for the long time between the harvest season and next year’s bounty. History books list the first Thanksgiving feast to have occurred in 1621 in the Plymouth settlement. The settlers were here seeking freedom to practice their religion without persecution from the state-run Church of England.
Most of us were taught that the Thanksgiving feast that year was a new tradition thanking God for what he gave them here in this New World. Their puritan beliefs and Old English Saxon traditions included festivals held in the fall going further back in England and Europe. These festivals were held to give thanks for divine provision and were refined to honor God after the English reformation. Pilgrims were more likely to follow traditions and cultural norms they had grown up with, just as we do today.
Regardless of how that first Thanksgiving came to be, presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt all formalized our Thanksgiving Day to make it an annual day to give Thanks and created a national holiday for that sole purpose.
Fast forward to today: We gather our families for a big meal featuring a big Turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy, cranberries, marshmallow sweet potatoes and all the fixings. Don’t forget about the Pumpkin and Pecan pies, even though most of us are as stuffed as the Turkey by then!
There’s always a football game each year and the jolly laughter and conversations that happen when families gather. It’s the fun beginning of the “Black Friday” shopping weekend for some, while others like me will be out in the woods hoping for that big buck to show himself.
This year please take some time to think about all that you really have to be thankful for and truly give thanks for your many blessings. Counting your blessings and being grateful have been linked to healthier lives, better mental health and longer lifespans. Our country is extremely blessed, and we have luxuries that Kings never dreamt of in days gone by. We get to take the day off, and our homes are warm and safe, we have so much food we can’t eat all of it, and we have the ones we love to share it with. We have the freedom to gather and the privilege to worship God without fear, and the leisure time to watch that game, go out shopping or head into the woods. We can gather our loved ones around us and simply enjoy each other’s company. We really do have it made, don’t we?
I wish a most BLESSED and Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I’m grateful and thankful for each of YOU.
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