Dr. Roy E Howard
November 26, 2015
SERMONCITOS Thanksgiving Tradition in the USA The tradition of the Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving is steeped in myth and legend. Few people realize that the Pilgrims did not celebrate Thanksgiving the next year, or any year thereafter, though some of their descendants later made a "Forefather's Day" that usually occurred on December 21 or 22. Several Presidents, including George Washington, made one-time Dr. Roy E Howard Thanksgiving holidays. In 1827, Mrs. Sarah Josepha Thanksgiving Hale began lobbying several Proclamations: Presidents for the instatement http://www.pilgrimhallmuseum.org/ thanksgiving_proclamations.htm of Thanksgiving as a national holiday, but her lobbying was unsuccessful until 1863 when The 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation by Abraham Abraham Lincoln finally made it a national holiday with his Lincoln, the first in the 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation. unbroken string of annual presidential Thanksgiving proclamations, is regarded as the true beginning of the national Thanksgiving holiday.
Today, our Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November. This was set by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 (approved by Congress in 1941), who changed it from Abraham Lincoln's designation as the last Thursday in November (which could occasionally end up being the fifth Thursday and hence too close to Christmas for businesses). But the Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving began at some unknown date between September 21 and November 9, most likely in very early October.
Sermoncitos
Thanksgiving Messages
Volume 2xxii
page 1
Dr. Roy E Howard
November 26, 2015
The date of Thanksgiving was probably set by Lincoln to somewhat correlate with the anchoring of the Mayflower at Cape Cod, which occurred on November 21, 1620 (by our modern Gregorian calendar--it was November 11 to the Pilgrims who used the Julian calendar).
Native Perspective
Jeremy Blackwater, Navajo, posted this meditation and prayer Thanksgiving Day, 2012:
Thanksgiving is hard for us who are Native Americans. Today, we pray for the Wampanoag people of the first thanksgiving, who gave freely of the food and the techniques to grow food to the first pilgrims who in turn dedicated themselves to the slavery and killing of those they considered heathens. We pray for those Native Americans who survived the coming of the pilgrims which culminated in the death of some 30 million native people in order to occupy our lands. We pray for those Native tribes who still live in “safe” reservations to keep us docile and away from the Europeans who now occupy our homelands. We pray for those children and youth who are caught in the generational poverty, suicide, violence and addiction now present on reservations.
1 Chronicles 7 Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the LORD into the hand of Asaph and his brethren. 8 Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. 9 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. 10 Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. 11 Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually. 12 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth
We give thanks to our God, the Great Spirit, the Creator of us all who is working in us for the healing of our resentment and distrust of each other. We give thanks for those who see us as people of integrity and spirituality and not as a lesser kind of human. We give thanks for those who are even now giving us opportunities to live the way of the light. We ask God to keep us humble and giving in spirit and forgiving of those who still look down upon us. We pray that we may be the strong ones who lead in the diversity of this nation, honoring all traditions. Happy Day of Thanks, all you people.
Sermoncitos
Thanksgiving Messages
Volume 2xxii
page 2