Forgetting to Give Thanks
By Sara Richardson, 11.18.04

Thanksgiving celebration today is probably not what early Puritans intended. To test this theory, I randomly chose 10 people at a local mall.

While traditional Thanksgiving food, family and football are all good things, not one of ten people said they spend thanksgiving by giving thanks.

“All my aunts, uncles, and cousins come over for a big dinner,” one teenage girl said. “We usually hang out and watch a movie or football until everyone goes home.”

While some watch football games, others plan their day around it.

“Thanksgiving is all about eating, watching football, eating more, watching more football, and maybe going outside to play football with family…depending on how the games are going,” said an early twenty-something year old.

Most people said Thanksgiving is about eating turkey, mashed potatoes (or sweet depending on your preference), and stuffing, while spending time with family and friends and watching football.

T hat is not exactly what happened during the first Thanksgiving.

While family and fellowship was an important part of the celebration, the Thanksgiving holiday gave people a chance to express gratefulness for the year’s blessings, not just have a feast.

Many mistakenly think of the first Thanksgiving as the Harvest Feast in 1621, with pilgrims wearing starch
white hats and aprons while sharing corn with the Indians.

But the Harvest Feast had more to do with celebrating the first successful harvest than about giving thanks. In fact, the Puritans did not regard this feast as their first Thanksgiving. Instead, the Puritan’s Thanksgiving
Day was reserved for giving thanks to God.

The first official Thanksgiving was in 1623, and it had little to do with feasting. The colonies were suffering a severe drought, so they set aside a day for prayer and fasting to humble themselves before their God in reverent dependence, according to the Plimoth Plantation Web site.

Although they continued this practice of setting aside a day to give thanks, it wasn’t until the 17th century that Thanksgiving became an official holiday.

In 1863, President Lincoln sanctioned the last Thursday in November to be an annual holiday set aside for giving thanks and gratitude to God for his provision and many blessings received throughout the year.

“I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens,” Lincoln said in his Thanksgiving Proclamation.

Today many of us are grateful for what we have: family, freedom and food to put on the table and enjoy. But we have forgotten the significance of this day that was set aside for expressing our gratitude.