Here in the United States we know one Thanksgiving, celebrated annually on the fourth Thursday of November. This is one of many Thanksgivings celebrated in the lands of Christendom the world over.
Many cultures observe harvest feasts to celebrate the ingathering of food during the fall season. In Christianity this has been historically marked by formal thanksgiving ceremonies to God. Some were initiated by church authorities themselves. Some were initiated by civil authorities or other laymen.
The North American Thanksgiving feasts of Canada and the United States derive from English days of thanksgiving originating in the English Reformation. Some English Puritans of that era sought to replace all church holidays with Days of Humiliation and Days of Thanksgiving.
English colonists brought these traditions with them to the New World and celebrated Days of Thanksgiving upon safe arrival, successful harvests, and escape from dangers. Many such Thanksgivings were observed across the Eastern seaboard over the early colonial period and became established as a practice and as a cultural touchstone. While Thanksgivings had originally been observed as one-time occasions in response to specific events, Thanksgiving became a recurring annual event.
Thanksgiving continued to be observed state-by-state after the American Revolution without recognition as a formal Federal holiday. This changed during the War Between the States when Lincoln established a uniform date of observance for all the States. Needless to say this did not impress the Southern states, which had less Puritan influence in their history and viewed Thanksgiving as a Yankee holiday. It was a long time before all the States embraced the Thanksgiving.
In 1941 Roosevelt signed a joint resolution of Congress changing the observation of Thanksgiving from the last Thursday of November to the fourth Thursday of November. So it continues to this day.
Thanksgiving is a subject of ridicule today. When a culture is under attack all its foundations are assaulted and Thanksgiving is one of the stones in that foundation. Thanksgiving is an important event of our founding mythos, it is firmly rooted in the Christian cosmology of the founders and the institutions they built, and it is universally known as a family celebration. In a world where women do not cook, can not cook, and have no-one to cook for, the emphasis on family is an offense. In a world where Christianity is an archaic embarrassment to be pushed aside, public and institutional expressions of gratitude towards God are backwards. In a society that takes pride in self-hatred the celebration of its own past is a sin.
We know better. We know the worth of the simple things, of gathering and ingathering, of the long chain of memories. Each family has its own traditions celebrated in concert with each other family. Thanksgiving strengthens our bonds and reminds us of who we are & from where we came. Enjoy it. Revere it. Smile at those who laugh at you, they are empty and resent you for being full.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Information for this article was derived from the Infogalactic articles on Thanksgiving and Days of Humiliation and Fasting.
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