THE RELIGIOUS COMPONENT IN THANKSGIVING

Our American neighbors to the south have just celebrated their version of Thanksgiving and this is a good time to take a look at the traditional holiday in both countries. Personally I subscribe to both versions and here's why.

Basically, Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks and is not based on a historical date like Christmas. So, the entire world does not celebrate Thanksgiving and even those that do frequently celebrate on different dates.

Canada's Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October is based on a bountiful harvest and not on the Pilgrims and the New World like the Unites States holiday. The reason it occurs earlier than the US Thanksgiving is that Canada is north of the United States and because of this the harvest season occurs slightly earlier in the year. So, it only makes sense for Canada to celebrate its fall harvest when it does.

Amazingly, the first Canadian Thanksgiving goes back even further than the United States. In 1578 an English explorer named Martin Frobisher was trying to find a northern route to the Orient. He was not successful in his quest, but he did end up establishing a settlement somewhere along what is Newfoundland today. Despite not making it to the Orient, Frobisher was thankful the journey had been safe and decided to have a day of thanks. This resulted in the first Canadian Thanksgiving.

During this same time frame many French settlers were making their way to the area and also began having days of thanks during the harvest time. They, like the American Pilgrims, invited local Indians to take part in their feast.

The pilgrims who came to the New World colony (USA) from England in 1620 were, in many ways, ordinary men and women. Some of them were members of the English Separatist Church (a Puritan sect of Christianity). These Separatists originally fled England and sailed to Holland to escape the religious intolerance and oppression of their homeland. In their day, the Church and the State of England were one, and independent congregations who desired to explore their own, differing relationship with the Christian God were unable to practice their faith independent of the State Church. 

Separatists had come to the conclusion that membership in the Church of England violated Biblical teaching. They fled their homeland so they could pursue God in a way they considered to be truer to the teaching of the Bible. This group successfully escaped religious persecution from the Church of England, but eventually became disenchanted with the Dutch way of life. They observed the lifestyles of those around them and believed they were in an ungodly land. So once again, they pushed on toward a new place where they could both worship the Biblical God of Christianity and live in a way honorable to this God.

The Mayflower held more than just the Separatist Puritans. The ship also contained other pilgrims who still remained loyal to the Church of England but came to the new world for economic reasons or because they sympathized with the Puritans in one way or another. But one thing was certain about everyone on the ship. Whether they were part of the Puritan group or simply along to assist them and make a new life for themselves, everyone shared a fervent and pervasive Protestant faith permeating all aspects of their lives. So, when the pilgrims made ground at Plymouth Rock on December 11th, 1620, they were also grounded in their faith as Christians. 

It should also be noted here that for the better part of a century the new colonies were also a dumping ground for many thousands of criminals from the British Commonwealth "transported" as virtual slaves for land owners to work off sentences.

At the end of the harvest of 1621, the pilgrims decided to celebrate. They brought with them both religious and secular customs from their homeland. Among these customs were the tradition of a secular harvest festival and the tradition of a religious holy day of thanksgiving. These were two separate celebrations for the original pilgrims, but both celebrations had strong religious overtones. Even the secular harvest celebration included a religious component of thanks to the Christian God who had provided the harvest. In addition to this celebration, the pilgrims also dedicated a day of thanksgiving that was purely religious in nature.

Regardless of how people may feel about the Thanksgiving Holidays, one thing should be obvious to even the most casual observer of history: Thanksgiving was (and still is) founded on the Christian notion we have something to be thankful for and someone to be thankful to. 

These first observers of Thanksgiving understood who it was they were to thank. Over and over again, through the early years of the colonies to the most difficult days of our national history, believers and leaders have affirmed and humbled themselves to the providence and protection of God. 

Those who initiated these national holidays intended them to be a day of thanksgiving and prayer; a day in which all of us could offer thanks to the God of the Universe.

Apart from over-dosing on turkey and all the trimmings, how did you celebrate Thanksgiving this year my friend?