And although the English colonists, (we call Pilgrims) celebrated days of thanksgiving as part of their religion, these were not days of feasting but rather of prayer and fasting.
Thanksgiving Feast
The current Thanksgiving feast we have been clebrating comes from that celebration feast held in the autumn of 1621 (399 years ago) by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag.
They came together to celebrate the colony's first successful harvest since they arrived.
The Thanksgiving celebrations we have today are secular, not religious. And we celebrate not just the harvest but all of our blessings of the current year.
Nothing To Be Thankful For
But how can we celebrate, when there is almost nothing to be grateful for, for this year?
There has been the normal heartaches, the crazy weather, calamities, uncontrolled fires, lots of prominent people dying...
The pandemic, the shutdowns, the restrictions, the lost of millions of lives and people's means of livelihood.
These on top of racial tensions, police brutality, terrorism, rioting, looting and of course the elections.
Perfect Storm
The elections were hotly contested and close enough not to have a clear winner on election night.
Technically there are still a couple of undecided states, but not enough to change the outcome. There are outrageous as well as legitimate lawsuits filed in courts. And the media has pronounced a winner - the challenger. The sitting president is essentially a lame duck and the electoral college is yet to vote nor are we expecting a concession speech.
Half of us are telling the incumbent to concede now, the other half are protesting against election related anomalies, or are just plain tired of these die-hard supporters of either candidate.
The media as usual, is throwing fuel to the fire, or starting new ones daily.
These on top of racial tensions, police brutality, terrorism, rioting, looting and of course the elections.
Perfect Storm
The elections were hotly contested and close enough not to have a clear winner on election night.
Technically there are still a couple of undecided states, but not enough to change the outcome. There are outrageous as well as legitimate lawsuits filed in courts. And the media has pronounced a winner - the challenger. The sitting president is essentially a lame duck and the electoral college is yet to vote nor are we expecting a concession speech.
Half of us are telling the incumbent to concede now, the other half are protesting against election related anomalies, or are just plain tired of these die-hard supporters of either candidate.
The media as usual, is throwing fuel to the fire, or starting new ones daily.
Be Grateful
The one thing we can be grateful for? This year is about to end. This and the election will finally be over as well.
On second thought, celebrating thanksgiving this year may be hard, but if we think really hard enough we will realize that this year gave us something that has not been given to everyone in recent memory. 2020 opened our eyes to what were really important and what we can live without.
It also showed us that everyone else all over the world are struggling the same as us, and there are billions more who are worse off, and we shouldn't be so dramatic about what we may be going through.
The one thing we can be grateful for? This year is about to end. This and the election will finally be over as well.
On second thought, celebrating thanksgiving this year may be hard, but if we think really hard enough we will realize that this year gave us something that has not been given to everyone in recent memory. 2020 opened our eyes to what were really important and what we can live without.
It also showed us that everyone else all over the world are struggling the same as us, and there are billions more who are worse off, and we shouldn't be so dramatic about what we may be going through.
We should be grateful.for what we have. That is the reason for thanksgiving.
No comments:
Post a Comment