Thanksgiving has ancient origins in Egypt

History shows that Thanksgiving had ancient origins. American’s, for the most part, hold our holidays as a personal and an American tradition. 

Today, from family favorites to time honored classics, traditions often make memorable moments serving as reminders of friends and family, of times long since past, and of memories shared. How do traditions come about? It is started by someone and can become the catalyst for great holidays. 

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in the United States. In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is the first Thanksgiving celebration held in the British colonies in the New World. A second celebration of thanksgiving by the Pilgrims was observed in 1623 to mark the end of a long drought that had threatened the year’s harvest.  

Governor Bradford proposed a religious fast. Days of fasting and thanksgiving were celebrated throughout the New England settlements on a sporadic basis. The American concept of Thanksgiving developed in the New England colonies. However, Thanksgiving has been celebrated in some form for centuries. 

In ancient times, the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans feasted and paid tribute to their gods after the fall harvest. Thanksgiving is also similar to the ancient Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot. In fact, historians have noted that Native Americans tended to commemorate the fall harvest with celebrating and feasting long before Europeans came to America’s shores. Thanksgiving falls under a category of festivals that spans cultures, continents and millennia.    

This holiday to express thanksgiving for God’s bounty continued until 1863, when in the middle of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held on the last Thursday of November. It was celebrated on that day every year until 1939. During the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in an effort to stimulate retail sales, moved the holiday up a week. 

There was a great amount of opposition to Roosevelt’s plan, which became known as Franksgiving,  In 1941, the president reluctantly signed a bill making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November. Most families follow age old traditions, but many have their own traditions. The President of the United States annually grants parole to two turkeys that will get to live out their lives on a farm. A thanksgiving feast may include Traditional foods such as turkey and dressing, gravy, sweet potatoes, cornbread, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Popular pie flavors are pumpkin, pecan, sweet potato, and apple. 

Followed by various activities that may include a football game and a nap! My ol’ Daddy always said, “A feller that eats his fill of turkey an’ dressing will more than likely take a nap purty soon, no matter what is going on!”

 

God’s Gentle Nudge

 

He pondered the night sound the wind had borne,

As sleep would slowly succumb,

The wind whistleld through the trees of early morn,

He knew daylight soon would come.

 

It had been said that this was Thanksgiving Day,

To give thanks for what God provides,

For people to be thankful in their own way,

‘Crost the valley an’ mountainsides.

 

He silently thanked the Lord for His care,

Thought about the ride he’d make,

An’ the many tasks that he would face out there,

The outside circle he would undertake.

 

Daybreak followed as twinkling stars faded out,

An’ that wind was some cold an’raw,

He poured his coffee, shore ‘nuff strong an’ stout,

Pangs of hunger began to gnaw.

 

Two biscuits, some side meat an’ breakfast was done,

Caught his hoss, cinched his saddle tight,

Then he headed south for a long days run,

Would not return ‘til pert near night.

 

That gusty north wind pushed him right along,

An’ he had lotsa time for thought,

There in God’s creation, he broke into song,

Admirin’ the beauty God wrought.

 

Ahhh he could see God’s work, smell the air so sweet,

Hear the coyote’s far off yip,

The shrill whistle of the soaring eagle repeat,

Its total claim to chairmanship. 

 

This creation an’ bounty from God’s own hand,

That made life worth the living,

An’ he was thankful that he could understand,

The reason for Thanksgiving.

 

‘Cuz his Mama had taught him from early age,

That the Good Lord guides your trail,

An’ He shows you how to act on life’s stage,

Pourin’ His Grace without fail.

 

 

‘Course, here on the ranch he was no where near a church,

Prayin’ very seldom got done,

Just markin’ the time he’d stopped to pray would take quite a search,

He knew t’was time he begun.

 

So, he stepped out of the saddle to pray,

Swept his hat from off his head,

An’ this is what that cowboy had to say,

“Lord, from your way I have fled.

 

Though You did not give up an’ tried to guide me true,

No matter how hard I’d fight,

You always kept your creation in my view,

I pressed on with all my might.

 

But this morning, seeing the beauty of Your world,

I’m thankful for what I see,

Because I can see your majesty unfurled,

As if it’s meant just for me.

 

In the words of my prayer, I say thank you Lord,

That on this Thanksgiving Day,

You have given me strength, my faith restored,

And reminded me how to pray!”

©  Ol’ Jim Cathey

 

1 Chronicles 29:13 - Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.

God Bless you and God Bless America!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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God Bless you and God Bless America!

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

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