Nov 29, 2008
In the United States, the fourth Thursday in November is the
federal holiday known as Thanksgiving Day. Many other
countries have a thanksgiving day of some sort during the course of
the year. In the case of the US, it is claimed to commemorate
a celebration had by the Plymouth Pilgrims to celebrate a bountiful
harvest after a hard winter in which many of them died of
starvation and cold.
It is a mundane holiday, and we are spiritual people. What
can we do with this?
This is a celebration of "the harvest" in the same manner as
Lammas, Mabon and Samhain are the celebrations of three distinct
harvests. For those of us in modern times, this might not
seem so apparent to someone whose food comes not from a field but
from a supermarket. But there had to be a harvest even if you
and I don't experience it.
Another dimension of the mundane Thanksgiving holiday is the number
of families who come together, some of them overcoming miles and
others setting aside issues for the sake of the celebration.
How well I remember trips to Duluth (Minnesota) for
Thanksgiving. What a way to give thanks, including for
family!
But it is a time set aside for giving thanks.
And the kind of thanks we can give at such a special time (or any
other time we set aside) is more than just thanks. It is the
basis of something which we can build upon! And build we
shall!
Blessed Be!