Thanksgiving is one of everyone’s favorite holidays. Mainly because of the FOOD! We get to enjoy stuffing, pies, cranberry sauce and of course turkey. We’ll also be able to cheer on our town’s football game or perhaps run in a turkey trot and then tune into the Patriots game. This activity packed day can sometimes distract from the reason for our celebration.
Around three hundred and ninety years ago Governor William Bradford of the 1620’ Pilgrim Colony proclaimed the first celebration of Thanksgiving to God. As many of us know from elementary school, the pilgrims had their fall harvest feast with the Wampanoag Indians. This was the start of our annual thanksgiving for the many blessings we received in the previous year. On October 3, 1863 Abraham Lincoln proclaimed our traditional National Day of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of every November. In his Thanksgiving proclamation he reminded us to be thankful for everything we have, saying…..
“…announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord… But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, by the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own… It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people…”
We are surrounded every day with many blessings and it can be hard to think of what we are thankful for. Fortunately though our forefathers have selected a single day out of our calendars to take a break and spend a day reflecting on what we have to be thankful for. Struggling with ideas? Lucky you, Lifehack has made a list of 60 things to be thankful for.
To really remind you how fortunate you are check out the map below. Everywhere in America there are people starving. Just in our neighboring town, Lawrence families will see their one full meal of the year from our Thanksgiving baskets. Just a glance at this map and you can see the percentages of people experiencing food insecurity.
This year as you sit down with your family and friends try to reflect on all of the blessings we can be thankful for.