Another Thanksgiving Day has come and gone, leaving the Wayfarer
in a state of well being – or rather over done - from the abundance of the
feeding trough, metaphorically speaking.
While reclining after over-indulgence thoughts of Thanksgiving origins found
their way through the maze of memories becoming the focal point for
contemplation. No doubt you are familiar
with the story of the first Thanksgiving celebrated by the Pilgrims, with its
subsequent Presidential Proclamation making it an Annual National Holiday. But do you know where the concept for
Thanksgiving originated with the Pilgrims?
While doing a little research (very little, I might add) here is
what was discovered on http://www.ritualwell.org/ritual/sukkot-food-traditions : “Prior to making their way to the New World,
the Pilgrims, themselves the victims of religious persecution, spent several
years among Sephardic Jews
in Holland. When they later celebrated the legendary first Thanksgiving, their
conscious frame of reference was Sukkot.”
Sukkot is also known as the Feast of Tabernacles which the Lord
had instituted in Leviticus 23 and was to be celebrated for eight days after
the fall harvest. They were commanded to
be joyful during this feast – in other words to “party on!” They offered thanks for the abundance of the
harvest and for the expected abundance in the coming year. There is much more to this particular holiday
than what I am describing here, but the main thing is the concept of joy and
thanksgiving. One of the symbols used
during Sukkot is the Cornucopia, or “Horn of Plenty”, which has been adopted by
North America.
Thanksgiving is the time set apart for family and friends to
gather together to partake in a festive feast and offer thanks for the
blessings bestowed upon them through the year.
A time when great memories are made, relationships strengthened and hard
times briefly put aside. For many,
especially adults, this has become the favorite holiday of the year, surpassing
Christmas.
It originated as a Holy Day (from which we derive the term “holiday”)
to be recognized as a day set apart to honor God with thankfulness for the
abundant blessings He has given His people.
Unfortunately for many that tradition has been minimized, if not
forgotten as they observe other events and activities, replacing gratitude with
greed and frivolity. Thanksgiving Day
Parades and Football Games take priority over thankfulness. Black Friday has been established in recent
years in which many anticipate more than Thanksgiving, with it now beginning
the night of Thanksgiving. Commerce now
preempts Thanksgiving with their enticements, fostering more greed as many cannot
be satisfied with the abundance they already have.
These musings are not meant to put a sour note on this special
holiday but rather to maintain awareness to the importance of Thanksgiving. The question is should Black Friday be put
aside for at least a week, if not completely, so not to detract from
Thanksgiving? That’s not likely to
happen given the climate of our society today.
However, we can choose to either participate in the madness or ignore it
altogether.
Here’s hoping your Thanksgiving Day was spent in giving thanks to
the Heavenly Father for your many blessings while enjoying the festivities of
the holiday with friends and family.
Shalom