Here's a little conversation starter to share at the dinner table between helpings of turkey and cranberry sauce: The first Thanksgiving wasn't really the first Thanksgiving.
The Plymouth Colony Pilgrims in Massachusetts get the traditional credit for laying the foundation in 1621 for what we now celebrate as Thanksgiving Day. But many historians actually recognize the first "thanksgiving" by New World settlers as one celebrated by newly arrived English colonists to the Berkeley Hundred, upriver from Jamestown, Va., on Dec. 4, 1619.
We associate Thanksgiving with bounty -- plentiful food, freedom from want. But the Berkeley thanksgiving wasn't a celebration of abundance. It was a genuine giving of thanks to God for the small sum of what the colonists had.
That's closer to where many Americans are on this Thanksgiving. We have had to get by with less. A shaky economy has left many without jobs and others without the money they had in their pockets this time last year.
Circumstances in 2009 make thankfulness challenging, but not impossible. Perhaps it lies in the old saying about how happiness comes not from adding to your possessions, but subtracting from your desires.
Blessings come in a variety of sizes, all of which can be embraced on this day. Family. Safety. Warmth. We can give thanks not for what we have feverishly accumulated, but for what we as Americans are privileged to have.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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What?
Yes, they were thanking God, not thanking the Indians - as children are taught in today's public schools.
May everybody have a safe Thanksgiving. Be thankful for living in such a country where all things are possible and be hopeful that this will continue.
JesusisComing - Why shouldn't the early settlers have also thanked the Native Americans? They showed the early settlers what and how to plant, where to find food, and helped them survive. If someone did that for you, wouldn't you thank them? Or are you so rude that you would just take what was given and never say a word of thanks? I have always been very greatful for what help I receive when going to a new area, even if just visiting and I certainly express my thankfulness.
I'm thankful that we will have elections in 2010 and 2012. We need change now more than ever.
I've never been in a classroom, or taught, or heard children thanking Indians for Thanksgiving. This is crazy.
All good things come from God. His desire is to meet all your needs. He will run past a million that reject Him to bless that one that accepts Him and desires His blessing. May you all be blessed in all things and the greatest of those is a relationship with Jesus Christ. Without Him life is a waste and is like restoring an old car, making it perfect in every way and then pushing it off a cliff.
JesusisComing, children are not taught that the Pilgrims thanked the Indians instead of God. What school have you been in? Students are taught the Pilgrims had a feast to celebrate a bountiful harvest that year. Being very religious people, they gave thanks to God for allowing them to make it though a very tough winter and also for the food they were able to harvest (or hunt). They invited the Native Americans who had helped them learn to survive in a new land.
The fact that they invited the American Indians, was one way the Pilgrims were thanking them for helping them survive their new environment. The Pilgrims gave thanks in prayer to God AND included thanks to their Indian friends. Some children are taught that, because it is the whole story. I learned this in public school and many other sources. Sorry that some didn't hear it sooner than today; it is part of American History.
The Pilgrims had a Thanksgivings fest and invited the Indians. Had Obama been there, he would have apologized to the Indians for the screwing they were going to get. Thanks Obama for trying to do what's right!
And he would have bowed to the chief, the tailor, the candlestick maker...