Thanksgiving In America

     Thanksgiving in America is held every fourth Thursday in November, and is the best of all the holidays that gather families and friends around a common celebration.
     Personalities aside, this is one holiday that is a no-pressure deal.
     Nobody gets gifts or is expected to do more than show up, eat, drink and refrain from getting over served, whilst also sidestepping getting into a mix with old Uncle Al, or that other occasional family member or guest that you just can’t stand.
     The idea that no one should be alone or eat alone on Thanksgiving, can make for some interesting people at your table.
     The wonderful day was created around a special meal, that involved the indigenous population (reportedly) and the first Pilgrims on November 11, 1621, one year after they landed at a place called Plymouth, Massachusetts.
     Now 404 years later, let us first give thanks that Plymouth Rock that marks this day didn't land on the Pilgrims!
     Thanksgiving is now known in modern times for the big parade in Manhattan, New York, and other television sporting events, especially American football, which is usually not broadcast on any other daytime Thursday otherwise.
     But the thing about Thanksgiving is that, no matter where you are from, Thanksgiving is an American thing to do.
     So in every corner of this great land, from California to the New York islands, on up into Alaska and down to Key West, Florida, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and agnostics, whites, blacks, and every color in between, all put down their differences for a day and agree that traditions of love, family, and good food are the order of the day.
     In America, when you say “Happy Thanksgiving" nobody looks back and says, “That’s not my holiday.”
     So here’s to Thanksgiving: a day of peace, quiet, and reconciliation.
     Some Americans pass the feeling along by working for a day serving meals in The Salvation Army kitchen or delivering food to the needy.
     But it is the small and mostly unreported concern toward each other, reflected in small gifts of food and open invitations of welcome to others, that should be recognized as an important expression of Thanksgiving.
     Individual acts of kindness have always been the spirit of Thanksgiving, as we assemble as friends and family at the table, hold hands, and sing:

               “We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing:
               He chastens and hastens his will to make known.
               The wicked oppressing
               Cease them from distressing
               Sing praises to his name
               He forgets not his own.”

     Hooray for the pumpkin pie!
GDA/SSA

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