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Thanksgiving a time to reflect, give thanks
While millions of Americans look upon Thanksgiving as a prelude to the Christmas holiday shopping rush, we are concerned many Americans do not know the true meaning of the Thanksgiving holiday. We also fear many Americans do not know the history of Thanksgiving either.
Let us pause for a moment and remind ourselves of the history and true meaning of the holiday during this Thanksgiving of 2008.
The first official thanksgiving was celebrated on Dec. 4, 1619, in the Virginia Colony, long before a revolutionary mood swept the eastern seaboard.
Pilgrims set aside a day of thanksgiving to celebrate their first harvest at Plymouth in 1621, but it was not until the Revolutionary War that some residents of the colonies began celebrating a day of thanksgiving, though it was not an official holiday.
Gen. George Washington proclaimed a somewhat official Thanksgiving in December 1777 as a victory celebration honoring the defeat of the British at Saratoga during the Revolution. The Continental Congress proclaimed annual Thanksgivings in December from 1777 to 1783, except in 1782.
In 1789 and again in 1795, Washington, as president, proclaimed Thanksgiving.
It was not until the Civil War, though, that Thanksgiving was declared a national holiday and celebrated each year in November. The year was 1863; President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving to be celebrated on the last Thursday of the month.
In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that Thanksgiving be celebrated on the next-to-last Thursday in November to give shoppers more time to spend money prior to Christmas. Roosevelt acted to help energize the economy during the Great Depression.
Since 1939, Thanksgiving has been celebrated on the next-to-last Thursday in November.
The holiday has become a tradition of families gathering for a large meal, enjoying one another's company, though we are not sure the American people in general take the time to consider why we gather for Thanksgiving.
We gather simply to say "thanks" for the blessings God has bestowed upon all of us. And God has blessed each and every one of us whether we realize it or not.
While there certainly are people all over the world who feel they do not have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, let us remind ourselves of the thousands and thousands of American soliders serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. They're fighting and yes, sometimes dying in a war whose goal and purpose have not been adequately defined by our civilian and military leaders. Yet, they fight, serving our nation with honor, so we can live free of tyranny and oppression, which many Americans take for granted.
If we find ourselves questioning why we should be thankful this Thanksgiving, let us remind ourselves of the thousands of American soldiers who have lost limbs and are forever maimed from the War in Iraq while an ungrateful lot here at home criticizes their efforts in a far away land.
If we find ourselves questioning why we should be thankful this Thanksgiving, let us remind ourselves of the thousands of families across the United States who have lost loved ones in the war. It is difficult to tell those families they should be thankful, but something tells us they do not need to be reminded why we give thanks on Thanksgiving. |
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