The holiday of Thanksgiving has a long and often conflicting story throughout U.S. history, but over the years one thing has remained the same — it’s a season of gratitude. In today’s world, it can be difficult to slow down and take time to feel thankful for what we have. It would do us all good to take a moment and remember the little things in life — and every little thing we’re thankful for. What are some of those things? Everyone will (and should) have their own list, but here’s some things that aren’t “things” to be thankful for:
Friends — strong friendships get us through the hard times and the good times… this would be a good time to reach out to some of those friends and tell them thanks.
Family — It goes without saying that without family, many, or most, of us wouldn’t be where we are today. No matter if you’re single, married with a houseful of children and your relatives live miles away or right next door, today’s a good day to feel grateful to your family and recognize how important they’ve been in your life.
Good Health — health is one of the most important things…. without good health we can’t do much else. We should take a moment to be thankful for the good health we have.
A place to call home — A lot of people around the world don’t have permanent place or home — so if you’ve got a roof over your head, that’s a good thing to be thankful for.
Sense of Safety — People in lots of the world and more and more in the United States, don’t have a sense of safety this Thanksgiving. If you’re fortunate enough to feel safe in the community where you live, be thankful for how fortunate you are not to have to live in fear this Thanksgiving.
Prior to the formal establishment of Thanksgiving in the United States, harvest festivals had been celebrated for centuries by Native Americans, with colonial services dating back to the late 16th century. The autumn feasts celebrated the harvest of crops after a season of bountiful growth. A the story goes, it was in the early 1600s when communities of settlers in both Massachusetts and Virginia held feasts to give thanks for their survival, for the fertility of their fields, and for their faith.
The most widely know early Thanksgiving is that of the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts, who shared an autumn harvest feast with the Wampanoag Native Americans in 1621. This feast, which lasted for three days, is considered the “first” Thanksgiving celebration in the colonies.
We hear a lot about the Pilgrims, especially around Thanksgiving. So what happened to the Pilgrims?
A pilgrim is a person who goes on a long journey, often with a religious or moral purpose, and especially to a foreign land. Those arriving in the colonies aboard the Mayflower certainly could be considered pilgrims. Shortly after the Mayflower arrived, the first baby of the new arrivals was born — a boy. His parents (William and Susannah White) named him Peregrine — a word that means traveling from far away and also means pilgrim.
The author of Mourt’s Relation in 1622 refers to the Plymouth Colonists as pilgrims. Governor William Bradford calls the Plymouth settlers pilgrims when he writes about their departure from Leiden, Holland to come to America: “They knew they were pilgrims, and looked not much on those things, but lifted up their eyes to the heavens, their dearest country; and quieted their spirits.” Governor Bradford also wrote a poem in which her refers to himself as a pilgrim.”
By the early 1800s, “pilgrim” became the most popular term applied to all the Mayflower passengers — and even to other people arriving in Plymouth. But the English people who settled Plymouth in the 1620s are generally called the Pilgrims.
After arriving in Plymouth Harbor in December of 1620, the colonist began building their town. Although they occasionally caught glimpses of Native People, it wasn’t until four months after their arrival that the colonists met and communicated with them. In March of 1621, the two groups made a treaty of mutual protection. The treaty had six points, including…. neither party would harm the other. If anything was stolen, it would be returned and the offending person returned to his own people for punishment. Both sides agreed to leave their weapons behind when meeting, and the two groups would serve as allies in times of war.
Seems like people in 1621 knew more about social interaction than we do today. Maybe today’s a good day to think about that first Thanksgiving and realize how far we have and haven’t come in all these years.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
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