Thanksgiving

It’s the time of year when the trees shed their leaves, the ghosts and ghouls of Halloween return to their crypts, winter clothes are retrieved from their summer slumber, and we set up our nest for the long winter months ahead. The aroma of cinnamon and apples baking permeates the house as we huddle by the fireplace and prepare for the onslaught of Christmas commercials and hundreds upon hundreds of various versions of the same Hallmark movie. We gather our friends and family around a sumptuously set table to celebrate Thanksgiving, the time of year when we give thanks for a bountiful year. (Well, the bountiful year refers to a bountiful harvest, which echoes back to the early days of the American colonies.) This year, unfortunately, many of us find ourselves in a state of anxiety, and uncertainty as we endure the effects of out-of-control president and a political party to afraid to reign him in. While we wait and see how this unfolds like some 80’s night-time soap opera, or the French Revolution with the beheading of those who think they are above the law, reconnecting to the significance and true meaning of this holiday may bring us some comfort in these chaotic times.

The idea of a day of giving thanks can trace its humble beginnings to England during the time Henry VIII with the creation of the Church of England. This turbulent time in British History came about due to Henry VIII not receiving his much-desired male heir from his wife, Queen Catherine. (Like she could control what happened in her womb.)  Since she was unable provide the required heir, he did what any man in power would, he divorced her and married his mistress, Ann Boleyn. (That didn’t work either, so he repeated this process until he obtained the much-looked-for male offspring from this third wife, Jayne Seymour.) His divorce came at a price, a split from the Catholic Church, a religion that dominated much of Europe at the time. After the separation, from both his wife and the Catholic Church, Henry established the Church of England, making himself the top leader, and the reorganization of the church soon followed.

            The English Reformation, as it called, was an overhaul of religious customs and practices in England. After all, when one creates their own religion, they have to remove all references, customs, practices, and teachings of the old church. How does one do this? They confiscate the old church’s land, take their money, outlaw their rituals, their texts, their customs and their holidays. The theory was that the old rituals were redundant and rather expensive to maintain. After all they didn’t take over the church to lose money, in fact, by confiscating their property and land, Henry was able to fill his pockets with much needed funds that were acquired from the Catholic Church. One of the many new customs established was to create a day of thanks; a way of being thankful for national events. This way the country could come together under the auspice of celebrating national events like the yearly harvests, defeating enemies of state, etc. (A bit of irony with the new church was that it frowned upon divorce as well and declared it a sin. Which is rather strange as the religion itself was the result of a divorce in the first place.)

            When the British landed on the shores of the new world, they brought with them many of the customs and traditions they practiced in England, including the day of giving thanks. This custom would become more meaningful to the colonists after their first winter in their adopted homeland as they struggled to endure the harsh winter conditions. The Native Americans noticed their struggle and offered their help and food that first winter, which aided the colonists in their fight to survive. During the following spring, the Native Americans also assisted the colonists in the cultivation of food and housing, teaching them the ways of the new land. The following fall, both groups celebrated with a grand feast of thanks. It was the colonist’s way of showing their appreciation for the help they received. This grand event would later be referred to as the first Thanksgiving, which was memorialized in the heartwarming “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” special. While this beloved show depicts them dining on turnkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry, and pumpkin pie, this early feast did not feature these well-known items. The first meal consisted of mostly venison, fowl, seafood, corn, and nuts and other fruits.

As the colonies grew and more and more people settled in the new territories, they brought with them their own customs and rituals as well as adopting those of the new country, which inevitably created different variations of the day of thanks. As was customary during this time, religious leaders in the various regions of the country would declared when the day of thanks would, which was never held at the same time throughout the colonies. In the late 1680s, an attempt was made to standardize this practice and the civil leaders would be the one who proclaimed when the day of thanks would be held. The religious leaders weren’t having any of that, so for the next several years the thanksgiving proclamation bounced back and forth between the religious and civic leaders. It wasn’t until after the Revolutionary War and the establishment of the new country that the then first President, George Washington, proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be observed in 1789, but no set date was given. It wasn’t until December 26, 1941 that Franklin Roosevelt signed with congress a joint resolution declaring the fourth Thursday in November as the national holiday known as Thanksgiving.

While the original meaning and purpose of the holiday has changed, the notion of getting together with family and friends has not. It’s a time to surround ourselves with our loved ones and be thankful and appreciative of what we have. While the future is unfortunately looking a bit unstable due to the current political climate, being thankful and grateful this year is more important than ever with so many individua’s experiencing anxiety filled times. I’m grateful for what I have and for whom I have in my life. May you and your family be happy and joyous this holiday season and rejoice in what you have and may we all work together uniting this country once again. After all, the first Thanksgiving was about bringing people together, lets once again return to that, and make this 400^th plus Thanksgiving Day one of uniting our country over a nice meal like the Native Americans did with the pilgrims.