Happy Thanksgiving!
Of all the holidays we celebrate in the US, Thanksgiving is the least controversial. Why? Because it has something for everybody. We get the day off from school or work. For some, it includes Friday making for a long weekend and begins the Christmas shopping season. For us Pennsylvanians, the Monday after Thanksgiving is the traditional beginning of Deer Season. All in all, everyone wins at Thanksgiving.
Families gather and there is feasting and football. Grace is said at more tables on Thanksgiving than any other day of the year. Even if that prayer is not the formal, traditional type, we still think about how much we have to be thankful for…even if just for a few, fleeting, moments.
The history of Thanksgiving is long and varied. Many cultures and peoples celebrate a Thanksgiving and some do it more than once a year. In America, its roots are simple.
On September 16, 1620, a group of 102 men, women and children left Plymouth, England on a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World. On November 21, 1620, The Mayflower dropped anchor in a sheltered harbor near present day Provincetown, Massachusetts. On December 21, this group, known today as the Pilgrims, disembarked from the Mayflower and founded Plymouth Colony. After 14 weeks of being cramped onboard ship, they thanked and praised God for seeing them safely to land.
Many died that first winter. Spring and summer brought much hard work to build the colony. Fall brought the first harvest and this is the image we have of the First Thanksgiving Day, Pilgrims and Indians gathering and sharing in the bounty.
Rabbit and I have much to be thankful for this year. We thank and praise God for all the blessings He so graciously bestows! And we thank you, all the members and friends of GS, for letting us be a part of your lives and for letting us share in your lives.
On this day and always, Peace and Blessings to you and yours!