Every year in November, America has a holiday that has taken on an almost religious reverence that we call Thanksgiving. We give so much honor to this holiday that it ranks with Christmas and Easter as important holidays in the hearts of the family and the nation. But this holiday, so rich in tradition, has its origins in the earliest days of the founding of this nation.
The first years when the explorers came to the American continent were indeed difficult. These explorers, whom we now call The Pilgrims, faced harsh weather, unpredictable relations with the natives, disease and other challenges as they carved out homes from the wilderness they found here. Because their earliest homestead was in the Northeast, the winters were harsh, and their ability to build homes that could keep them warm and find enough food was a constant concern for men and women trying to start families in America.
So whenever they received help from the native population, it was considered a gift from God and received with the greatest joy and celebration. An Indian chief named Squanto saw the plight of these new neighbors and made sure his tribe helped these young families survive. In addition to providing them with food and wisdom on how to build structures that would keep them safe in the winter, Squanto taught them how to fish, how to prepare the eels and other strange sea creatures they harvested, and how to farm.
This act of friendship was the origin of our revered holiday of Thanksgiving. The Virginia Colony established the tradition of holding a day of common thanksgiving prayer, and this tradition continues to this day. Except it's not just a day of thanksgiving for Squanto's kindness and generosity to our ancestors. We use this day of reverence and thanksgiving to be thankful for all the good things God has blessed this nation with.
The foods we use to celebrate Thanksgiving were those that the Pilgrims found originated in this land, and foods that, with the help of Native American teachers, they learned to catch, harvest, and prepare to feed their families and prosper in their new home. The turkey was a game foul that the Pilgrims stocked up on once Squanto showed them how to reliably injure the bird.
The vegetables we love on our traditional menus also have their origins in the early life of the Pilgrims. Potatoes, cranberries, sweet potatoes, green beans and everything else were vegetables that the pilgrims had to learn to harvest, farm and prepare from the natives of the land. In many ways, despite the dominance of football matches and the upcoming Christmas holidays, our modern holidays retain the atmosphere of those early celebrations.
And despite the commercialization, the meaning of the holiday has remained. Americans have a lot to be thankful for. The abundance of the soil, the health of the most prosperous economy on earth, and a society that is free and able to promote freedom in other cultures are just a few of the things we celebrate this holiday season. But for most of us, it is a time to gather family and friends close and be thankful to God for our health, for the blessings of work, and for the privilege that all Americans share of living in the greatest nation on earth, where opportunity is abundant, that it any of us can do and thrive if we work hard in our chosen field of expertise. And those are the things that are really worth being thankful for.
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