Thanksgiving
- Walden
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Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving.
It's not about being descended from the Mayflower fathers.
It's not about being an American.
It's not about turkey and dressing.
It's not about football or pie.
It's not about criticizing our forebears.
It's not about criticizing others' forebears.
There is a reason why we look to the past. Not that the Pilgrim Fathers were the first to celebrate a time of Thanksgiving. They weren't. But we do look to them, and remember the thanks that they gave to the Creator. We remember the coming together of nations and races at that time to give thanks for the bounty of the fruits of the earth. For life. For family. For friends. For deliverance from affliction. For deliverance in affliction.
We take note of these things, not as a commemoration of some half-remembered long-ago event, but because we too have a need to give thanks for the good things which come into our lives, despite the setbacks, despite the trials, and the losses, we wish to give thanks for the blessings.
It's not about being descended from the Mayflower fathers.
It's not about being an American.
It's not about turkey and dressing.
It's not about football or pie.
It's not about criticizing our forebears.
It's not about criticizing others' forebears.
There is a reason why we look to the past. Not that the Pilgrim Fathers were the first to celebrate a time of Thanksgiving. They weren't. But we do look to them, and remember the thanks that they gave to the Creator. We remember the coming together of nations and races at that time to give thanks for the bounty of the fruits of the earth. For life. For family. For friends. For deliverance from affliction. For deliverance in affliction.
We take note of these things, not as a commemoration of some half-remembered long-ago event, but because we too have a need to give thanks for the good things which come into our lives, despite the setbacks, despite the trials, and the losses, we wish to give thanks for the blessings.
Reasonable person
Walden
Walden
- chas
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For me it's all about family. I see my parents and most of my siblings (3/4) at Thanksgiving. Every day I thank my lucky stars for my parents, siblings, and wife and daughter, but at Thanksgiving it all comes together.
Charlie
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"Our work puts heavy metal where it belongs -- as a music genre and not a pollutant in drinking water." -- Prof Ali Miserez.
- jkrazy52
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Thanksgiving is a perfect to give thanks for family, health and everything going well in life ... and sometimes for the major flubs.
It's also a good time to say thank you, Walden - well said; and thank you to all the other great friends found here at the C & F. You have all made life a little more interesting in many ways.
~Judy
It's also a good time to say thank you, Walden - well said; and thank you to all the other great friends found here at the C & F. You have all made life a little more interesting in many ways.
~Judy
I love Thanksgiving. It's not a religious holiday, so I can really get into it. My favorite thing is going around that table saying what we are thankful for. I am so blessed and I have so much bounty in my life. This will be a good Thanksgiving. It will be the first time I am hosting it (ever in my life to date). Yeah, my biological family is tiny, but my married family is rather large. I can't wait.
~JessieD
- Will O'B
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. . . and giving thanks that my family is not starving as my ancestors did in the old country. (Sorry, Jim, but some sentiments seem to cry out to me for completion).jim stone wrote:For me it's entirely a matter of food.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Will O'Ban
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!
- mamakash
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Remember, if you can't get together with your family on Thanksgiving, you can get together on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. I only say this because it can be impossible for everyone to get the day off. You can still give thanks when you're with the ones you love.
I sing the birdie tune
It makes the birdies swoon
It sends them to the moon
Just like a big balloon
It makes the birdies swoon
It sends them to the moon
Just like a big balloon
- chattiekathy
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Here's George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/libr ... ocument=20
To me, Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for all of the Blessings in our lives, getting together with family and eating turkey and filling and my mom's Pumpkin Pie. Yumm!
Cheers,
Kathy
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/libr ... ocument=20
To me, Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for all of the Blessings in our lives, getting together with family and eating turkey and filling and my mom's Pumpkin Pie. Yumm!
Cheers,
Kathy
~*~Creativity is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift to God~*~
- Will O'B
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Gee. I always thought it was Lincoln who established Thanksgiving as a national holiday. Not sure why I thought that.chattiekathy wrote:Here's George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/libr ... ocument=20
Cheers,
Kathy
Will O'Ban
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!
Huh. Apparantly, until the 1940's the President had to proclaim the date of Thanksgiving every year;chattiekathy wrote:Here's George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/libr ... ocument=20
it wasn't automatically the 4th Thursday of Nov, as it is now. It wasn't even really popular until the Civil War.
More thanksgiving history:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_147.html