Thanksgiving Then And Now

We grew up with the story of the 'first Thanksgiving' being a feast held in the autumn of 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag to celebrate the colony's first successful harvest.

The Pilgrims celebrated days of thanksgiving as part of their religion but these were days of prayer, not days of feasting.

Historians have also recorded other ceremonies of thanks among European settlers in North America, including British colonists in Berkeley Plantation, Virginia.

At this site near the Charles River in December of 1619, a group of British settlers led by Captain John Woodlief knelt in prayer and pledged "Thanksgiving" to God for their healthy arrival after a long voyage across the Atlantic. This event has been acknowledged by some scholars and writers as the official first Thanksgiving among European

settlers on record. Notice again it was a prayer of thanksgiving, and not a feast.

The celebratory feasts stemmed from their knowledge of, that their very lives depended not on what they had planted, harvested. and hunted with their own hands, but from God Almighty. The community, friends, and families gathered together not to just eat, but to say prayers of thanksgiving over the food and the harvest. The feast and sharing was a byproduct of that gesture.

Our national holiday continued in that tradition for many years until the prosperity overtook the thanks from which it came. The feasts became more elaborate, the food a symbol of the wealth of the host, rather than subsistence provided by God. It has continued to get worse.

I don't watch must television. The vast majority of the shows and commercials disgust me. I do however succumb from time to time on a rainy day or when my physical pain is too much to bear sitting in anything else but the recliner. I've had quite a few of those lately. While I watch a few shows out of either interest or downright boredom, I try to make it a study of how society is manipulated and molded by the electronic contraption. If you are aware of that fact, it becomes easier and easier to spot. I guess I hold to the old axiom, "Keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer." A way of knowing some of Satan's tactics.

One commercial in point had me giggling like a school girl at it's 'in your face' honesty...

A young wife is preparing for her first Thanksgiving dinner. She has purchased the china, napkins, and other decorations along with I suppose the food from whatever 'mega-store' the commercial is promoting. She practices serving the dinner to her husband with cut out paper turkey and other side dishes. She even practices her greeting in front of the mirror, trying to act humble in spite of all the praises she expects from all her hard work and perfection.

At the end of the commercial, when her guests finally arrive and her 'big moment' is at hand... reality sets in. Her guests basically ignore her, except as someone to hold and carry in their luggage.

Basically, "We're here for the food", and probably just out of a 'have to because it's tradition' attitude. Maybe they have a big screen T.V. to watch the ball-games on after dinner.

Where's the 'thanksgiving'?

Oh sure, most folks say a short prayer that the head of the family has either practiced or heard themselves for years and then it's "Pass the green bean casserole please, we need to hurry, the game starts in 20 minutes." "Did you watch the MACY'S Thanksgiving Day parade this morning? I want a coat just like the female announcer had on, what's her name again? I LOVED her last movie!"

How far we have fallen from the original idea, a 'prayer' of thanksgiving. An acknowledgment that the very air we breathe is provided by God. Our salvation was bought and payed for completely by Jesus. We are redeemed, and that's the only 'buying' we really need to concern ourselves with, and we can't do it! We can only accept it as a gift from God.

I've had a rough few years, and have lost a lot. It has been a blessing, because every time I lose something in this world, God gives me knowledge and understanding of Himself and the next world. That is something to be thankful for. It goes against all we have been taught in this world that defines our success. It sounds crazy to most when they see the rug constantly pulled out from under me and I give thanks, because they can't understand the spiritual riches I get from it.

I remember being a lot like that new wife, it shames me now when I think about it, but oh what I have learned from losing all that. I have been forgiven for 'all that', and I thank God for losing 'all that'...physical stuff, traditions of men, respecter of persons, and expecting it of me also.

'All that' as a noun has been replaced with more of a verb...

'All that' I need is Jesus. Thank you Father.