Thanksgiving is an annual, national holiday on the 4th Thursday in November. It is celebrated in both the United States and Canada, however, Canada celebrates it on the second Monday in October. President Abraham Lincoln made it a national holiday in 1863, in an attempt to unite the war-torn country after the Civil War.
Tradition has it that the first Thanksgiving took place in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1621, between the Wampanoag Indians and the Pilgrims. They did not actually call it Thanksgiving. The celebration lasted three days sometime between mid-September and early November. They held the feast to celebrate the harvest of multicolored flint corn and other blessings they had received since their arrival in America.
A more likely first Thanksgiving
Another version of the story is that the Pilgrims celebrated by running races, drinking, and shooting guns and cannons into the air, which brought the Wampanoag Indians to find out what the noise was. They did not sit down to eat with the Pilgrims. Instead, they hung around in the woods for a few days to keep an eye on the Pilgrims.
If they had celebrated together the Indians would have outnumbered the English Pilgrims. On their trip over to America, on the Mayflower, all the women, except for four had died. All totalled it is estimated there were 90 Indians and 50 Pilgrims, made up of mainly men and children at the feast, if indeed it happened.
It is possible that the Pilgrims ate wild turkey, but they could also have eaten lobster, eel, and mussels, which were abundant. Even deer, swans, or ducks could have been eaten. The meal could have included garden-grown vegetables like cabbage, cucumbers, parsnips, radishes, thyme, parsley, fennel, anise, carrots, and dill. And possibly beans and squash, like pumpkins. There were no pies because they did not have ovens or butter. And they did not eat potatoes or cranberry sauce.
Thanksgiving today for Native Americans
Native American Indians do celebrate Thanksgiving several times a year to give thanks for things like a crop coming in, fish returning to spawn, a chief that has been their leader for a long time, and newborn babies in the tribe. It is part of their spiritual life and it happens multiple times a year. And daily.
The Thanksgiving that we celebrate has become a National Day of Mourning, since 1970, for many Native Americans on Cole’s Hill, which overlooks Plymouth Rock. This day is also remembered by Native Americans in other locations. They suffered a great loss of their friends and family due to the English that came to America.
Thanksgiving today for most other Americans
In the United States, family and friends gather for the day, making it one of the busiest weekends for travel by car or airplane. People also invite neighbors and church members who have no local family to celebrate with them. There are football games on TV to be watched, but earlier in the day the annual Macy’s Day Parade is attended by millions and also viewed on Television. And some cities have their own Thanksgiving Day Parade. In 2020, things will be different from the normal, with the Macy’s Day Parade canceled and some state governors prohibiting large family gatherings.
Traditional foods on what some refer to as “Turkey Day” include turkey, bread stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, pies (especially pumpkin), buns, and sweet potatoes. The turkey may have become the choice of meat since turkeys aren’t raised for their eggs and they have a lot of meat, which is relatively inexpensive. Each year the current President pardons one or two turkeys and the lucky turkey(s) retires on a farm.
Even though it is not a religious holiday, it is observed by most Christians as a day to go to church and acknowledge the blessings God has given us. It started as a day to thank God for their blessings but now it’s more about family gatherings, football, eating turkey and all the fixings, usually with an abundance of leftovers.
Everyday should be a day of thanks
Thanksgiving is not the only day of the year that we should be thankful, even though it serves as a reminder. There are no gifts given, but instead, we share our thankfulness for what we have. As a Christian, I share my gratitude to God for the many blessings I have received, not necessarily that I have deserved. We all have personal blessings that only apply to us. I have listed 29 blessings below that apply to most Americans.
However, with 2020 being the year of Covid-19 there may be many more than normal, that will not be able to afford a Thanksgiving meal and rely on donations to have a Thanksgiving meal. And others may not be working, may have lost their home, or members of their family to Covid-19, or be unable to pay their bills. We should be praying for them, too. Also, if you can, please share your bounty through local charities so they can provide a Thanksgiving meal to those in need.
I realize that not all of these items may apply to every person reading this list. You are encouraged to add to this list or subtract as applicable. God has been very generous to all of us this year, despite the hardships we may have faced. I hope this list helps you remember many of the blessings you have received.
Blessings for which we should give thanks
- Health
- Jobs
- Home
- Family
- Friends
- Neighbors
- God’s Creation
- Rain
- Sunshine
- Laughter
- Clean running water
- More than enough food
- Our Pastor
- Our Church Family
- Doctors and Nurses
- Police and Fire departments
- Being able to read
- Our faith in God
- Being able to own a Bible or several
- Freedom to Vote
- Our President
- Freedom of Religion
- Freedom of Speech
- Eyesight
- Sense of Smell
- Sense of Taste
- Ability to Hear
- Ability to Speak
- Enough money to pay our bills
May your Thanksgiving this year be one to celebrate
the blessings you have with family and friends gathered together.
And may you remain healthy.
God bless you.
Please comment below with additional items for which you are thankful.
Love the list. Gratitude is so important. So much of our day can be controlled by our attitudes.
This is a great reminder of why we celebrate Thanksgiving. I like how you listed off a bunch of reasons to feel blessed. Many of us take these things for granted.
Thank you Crystal. It is so easy to take things for granted. This year has been a bad year for many people due to health, loss of a job, etc. In the midst of the bad, there are still always reasons to feel blessed.
Love this post bc the intention behind it is to be intentional about seeking the blessings in our lives. Such a great reminder!
Thank you Lindsay. Everyday, even if it’s a bad day, there are so many blessings that we take for granted. I’m happy you enjoyed the post.
Just waking up in the morning is thanks enough but it’s the things like the ones you share on this list – things that we take for granted that we should really be thankful for. I was nodding my head in agreement with all 29 reasons. 🙂
And thanks for sharing a little about the first thanksgiving. I remember learning this in school but I don’t remember the details….it was about 40 years ago. 🙂
Cori
Thank you, Cori. I was hoping the list of 29 blessings would ring true with most people. I was recently traveling and I started researching the history of things, so I thought I should research Thanksgiving as well. We really don’t know exactly what took place, but that’s the best I could come up with from several sources. We learn the happy version in school when we are young. But I’m really not convinced it was as happy between the Pilgrims and Native American Indians as some stories and the famous painting portray.