Thanksgiving Day, A Necessary Reminder

I'm thankful that I was raised in a Christian home, and that at an early age I was taught that I had to trust Jesus for myself. One day after a neighborhood Bible study, I prayed with the teacher to accept Jesus as my personal Savior. My parents then explained to me that although salvation is a free gift, our lives should be lived in thankfulness and appreciation for it. But in my teenage years, I got away from it somehow and began to doubt my eternal salvation, until one day I came to grips with it and realized I had to make sure, so I went forward in church and prayed for God to save me or make me sure of my salvation and I felt a real sense of His peace, and have never doubted since, but have been living in thankfulness for my eternal salvation.
It doesn't mean I'm perfect. I still sin, but when I do, the Holy Spirit convicts me and I confess it and am forgiven (IJohn 1:9).
I'm thankful that I can know that God loves me and is with me each day of my life.

Throughout history mankind has celebrated the bountiful harvest with thanksgiving ceremonies. The Greeks, the Romans, The Chinese and the Egyptians all had their own unique celebrations. And with the Hebrews, the feast of Tabernacles could be considered a type of thanksgiving celebration.

But the Celebration which we observe here in the United States each year is unique in its history and purpose. The Pilgrims, who celebrated the first thanksgiving in America, were fleeing religious prosecution in their native England. In 1609 a group of Pilgrims left England for the religious freedom in Holland where they lived and prospered. After a few years their children were speaking Dutch and had become attached to the Dutch way of life. This worried the Pilgrims. They considered the Dutch frivolous and their ideas a threat to their children's education and morality. So they decided to leave Holland and travel to the New World. Their trip was financed by a group of English investors, the Merchant Adventurers. It was agreed that the Pilgrims would be given passage and supplies in exchange for their working for their backers for 7 years. On Sept. 6, 1620 the Pilgrims set sail for the New World on a ship called the Mayflower.

They sailed from Plymouth, England and aboard were 44 Pilgrims, who called themselves the "Saints", and 66 others ,whom the Pilgrims called the "Strangers." The long trip was cold and damp and took 65 days. Since there was the danger of fire on the wooden ship, the food had to be eaten cold. Many passengers became sick and one person died by the time land was sighted on November 10th. The long trip led to many disagreements between the "Saints" and the "Strangers". After land was sighted a meeting was held and an agreement was worked out, called the Mayflower Compact, which guaranteed equality and unified the two groups. They joined together and named themselves the "Pilgrims." Although they had first sighted land off Cape Cod they did not settle until they arrived at Plymouth, which had been named by Captain John Smith in 1614. It was there that the Pilgrims decide to settle. Plymouth offered an excellent harbor. A large brook offered a resource for fish. The Pilgrims biggest concern was attack by the local Native American Indians. But the Patuxets were a peaceful group and did not prove to be a threat. The first winter was devastating to the Pilgrims. The cold, snow and sleet were exceptionally heavy, interfering with the workers as they tried to construct their settlement. March brought warmer weather and the health of the Pilgrims improved, but many had died during the long winter. Of the 110 Pilgrims and crew who left England, less that 50 survived the first winter.

In 1621, after a hard and devastating first year in the New World the Pilgrim's fall harvest was very successful and plentiful. The Pilgrims had beaten the odds. They built homes in the wilderness, they raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter. On March 16, 1621 , what was to become an important event took place, an Indian brave walked into the Plymouth settlement. The Pilgrims were frightened until the Indian called out "Welcome" (in English!). His name was Samoset and he was an Abnaki Indian. He had learned English from the captains of fishing boats that had sailed off the coast. After staying the night Samoset left the next day. He soon returned with another Indian named Squanto who spoke better English than Samoset. Squanto told the Pilgrims of his voyages across the ocean and his visits to England and Spain. It was in England where he had learned English. Squanto's importance to the Pilgrims was enormous and it can be said that they would not have survived without his help. It was Squanto who taught the Pilgrims how to tap the maple trees for sap. He taught them which plants were poisonous and which had medicinal powers. He taught them how to plant the Indian corn by heaping the earth into low mounds with several seeds and fish in each mound. The decaying fish fertilized the corn. He also taught them to plant other crops with the corn.

The harvest in October was very successful and the Pilgrims found themselves with enough food to put away for the winter. There was corn, fruits and vegetables, fish to be packed in salt, and meat to be cured over smoky fires. The Pilgrims had much to celebrate. They had built homes in the wilderness, They had raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter. They were at peace with their Indian neighbors. They had beaten the odds and it was time to celebrate. The Pilgrim Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving to be shared by all the colonists and the neighboring Native Americans. They invited Squanto and the other Indians to join them in their celebration. Their chief, Massasoit, and 90 braves came to the celebration which lasted for 3 days. They played games, ran races, marched and played drums. The Indians demonstrated their skills with the bow and arrow and the Pilgrims demonstrated their musket skills. Exactly when the festival took place is uncertain, but it is believed the celebration took place in mid-October. The following year the Pilgrims harvest was not as bountiful, as they were still unused to growing the corn. During the year they had also shared their stored food with newcomers and the Pilgrims ran short of food.

The custom of an annually celebrated thanksgiving, held after the harvest, continued through the years. During the American Revolution (late 1770's) a day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress. In 1817 New York State had adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle of the 19th century many other states also celebrated a Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill officially establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.

We are soon to celebrate once again the National Holiday known as "Thanksgiving day." We do this every year. Every year we gather together with friends and family for a feast of plenty and, hopefully pause to give thanks for all our bountiful blessings. But thanksgiving should not be relegated to only one day a year. In Psalm 107, it says over and over again, "Oh that men would give praise the Lord for His goodness" We should be thankful every day for the blessings God has given us. By giving thanks, we acknowledge God as a power greater than ourselves. We can see the handiwork of the creator around us in many ways every day. As Paul puts it in Romans 1:20 "the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by things that are made." And yet, some of us fail to acknowledge Him. If all we were left to was our own selves and our own abilities, we would be quite limited indeed. Human beings are finite and limited, but God is infinite and unlimited. He has endowed all of us with special talents and abilities, but we must admit that these are from Him, and that they, although wonderful, are limited. The only being with unlimited power and resources is God. By being thankful, we acknowledge His sovereign control over our lives and His power to change situations and give us more power and ability. To be unthankful to Him is limit our own potential even further than it already is, while to be thankful can cause an expansion of our abilities.

For the wife who says it's hot dogs tonight,
because she is home with me, and not out with someone else.

For the husband who is on the sofa being a couch potato,
because he is home with me and not out at the bars.

For the teenager who is complaining about doing dishes
because it means she is at home, not on the streets.

For the taxes i pay
because it means i am employed.

For the mess to clean after a party
because it means i have been surrounded by friends.

For the clothes that fit a little too snug
because it means i have enough to eat.

For my shadow that watches me work
because it means i am out in the sunshine.

For a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning,and gutters that need fixing
because it means i have a home.

For all the complaining I hear about the government
because it means we have freedom of speech..

For the parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot
because it means i am capable of walking
and i have been blessed with transportation.

For my huge heating bill because it means i am warm.

For the lady behind me in church who sings off key
because it means i can hear.

For the pile of laundry and ironing
because it means I have clothes to wear.

For weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day
because it means i have been capable of working hard.

For the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours
because it means i am alive.

And finally, for too much e-mail
because it means I have friends who are thinking of me.

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