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Thanksgiving

"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new." (Emerson).

The holiday Americans celebrate today is rooted in the unique story of this country going as far back as four hundred years. While the story itself may remain unclear to many of us, we reap the annual benefits of gathering with our loved ones, sharing a meal of abundance, and pausing to reflect on the source of our provision and blessing. It is my favorite holiday, and although attempts are made every year to turn it in to a consumer-driven primer for Christmas, by and large, it has retained its special sacredness and simplicity.

In 1620, one hundred and two English seperatists set sail from Plymouth, England for the New World. These dissenters, who left England to preserve their cultural identity and seek religious freedom, were brought to the America's by a crew of 30 men on board the Mayflower. According to tradition, they landed at Plymouth Rock -- except there is no record of such a place in their writings and the story was probably made up as a nice little addition to American folklore.

The English arrived in desperate condition and were not prepared to survive in the new world. By the end of that first winter, fifty percent of them had died from disease. As they were trying to fight their way from death that spring, a native of the Patuxet people named Squanto made contact and be-friended the remaining English. Squanto knew the English language because he had been kidnapped by Englishman Thomas Hunt who attempted to sell him into slavery in Spain. When some friars caught wind of this, they took Squanto (and many others) in order to teach them about the Christian faith. He eventually found his way to London and on a return journey to his homeland on board another English ship.

When Squanto returned home, he found all of his people dead from disease...disease brought by the English.

That Squanto could move past his great losses and personal tragedy brought on by Englishmen and be-friend the very people who had cost him so dearly is a remarkable and admirable part of our shared story. The Plymouth settlement could not have succeeded without him. He taught the colonists how to plant corn and how to eat from the wilderness. He served as interpreter between Chief Massasoit of the Wampanoag people and the English and helped forged an alliance between the English and Wampanoag for mutual defense against their enemies.

Over the summer of 1621 and with the assistance of their native friends, the English produced and stockpiled an admirable harvest. As was custom in the era, a harvest feast was planned for the late autumn. Contrary to folklore, the Wampanoag weren't actually invited to the feast but showed up anyhow. Since they shared a treaty with one another, the English were obliged to show hospitality. The 60-90 warriors who traveled with Massasoit most likely made a huge dent in the winter stockpile during the three days of feasting and games. The English, should they have visited the Wampanoag villages, could have expected the same hospitality in return.

There was no turkey on that first Thanksgiving menu (yet another folksy addition to the story). Instead, they ate mainly venison, codfish, boiled pumpkin, wild berries, and something called the Three Sisters (a mixture of maize, beans, and squash). Potatoes were in abundance, but the English thought they were poisonous and would not touch them.

This story remained a respected and revered part of our American allegory for centuries. The Continental Congress issued a first National Proclamation of Thanksgiving in 1777. George Washington declared a day of Thanksgiving on October 3, 1789, but national celebrations of Thanksgiving were hit and miss dependent upon the whims of presidents until the American Civil War. It wasn't until 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving to be set for late November. There has been an annual observance every year since then. In 1941, Congress set the permanent date for Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. President Roosevelt signed it into law, and Americans have been celebrating our collective thanks on that day every since.

Ours is a rich, folksy, unique holiday that is rooted in history and steeped in significance with a bit of quirkiness thrown in (such as the President of the United States and his annual pardoning of the White House turkey). An American Thanksgiving is a celebration of the welcome of strangers (even those who cost you), the forgiveness of enemies, the acknowlegment of mutual dependency, and honoring of the providence of the Almighty.

It is a holiday that addresses the soul of our nation and her people. As we gather around our table today with friends and family, I will pause to reflect on those who have made my journey possible, those with whom I share a mutual dependency, and the Creator whose sustaining presence is an every day reality in my life.

Happy Thanksgiving.