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Nov. 25, 2005 Was it really the pilgrims who held the first Thanksgiving? That’s debatable, others claim the honor as well. It isn’t really important where or when, what is important is why our ancestors felt a need to thank the creator for another year of survival in this new land. Being a Pilgrim in New England in the 17th century wasn’t easy. Making it one more year was truly an accomplishment. There’re many stories proclaiming the first Thanksgiving. My favorite is the one that credits a Spanish Priest and a band of Comanche Indians holding a festival in Palo Duro Canyon in what is now Texas. That supposedly happened in the mid 15 hundreds, years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Either the event didn’t catch on or it became another Saints Day. Benjamin Franklin wrote an essay in 1785 explaining the first Thanksgiving. The original Pilgrims being piously disposed as they were held a number of days of atonement and fasting, thanking the Lord for their survival in the wilderness. As these Pilgrims were discussing yet another day of atonement and fasting a farmer stepped forward and suggested they should have a feast day to celebrate their bountiful harvest. Thanksgiving was born and celebrated since. There’s the story of the Mountain men and the Plains Indians celebrating the hunting and trapping season each year at a place called Bear Lake, [Idaho / Utah Border] It was actually more a calibration by the Hudson’s Bay Company who was able to take back all the money they paid the Trappers and Indians for their years work. It was a week of celebrating and being thankful. The exchange of goods and money has aleways been a Thanksgiving tradition. Thanksgiving has changed over the centuries. It’s become a day to celebrate the NFL and NASCAR. For Wal_Mart it’s the precursor for the Holiday Season. It may well be the only day in the year Grandma turns on the oven. It’s possible to pick up and entire pre-packaged Thanksgiving dinner at Boston Market, [Which incidentally is located in Naperville Il.] It’s become the day all merchants look forward to as the beginning of the years biggest selling season. For those who say we should return to tradition I say poppycock. Thanksgiving was meant as a day to celebrate prosperity, past, present, or future, prosperity is prosperity. If we want to live in the past we’ll surely miss out on the present. If Grandpa and the men want to watch football, Grandma and the girls want to discuss Desperate Housewives, If Molly and her friends want to go in the garage and smoke pot, Little Freddy and his cousin Judy want to go in the bathroom and play Doctor, I say so be it. It’s Thanksgiving, a day of celebration, a day to kick back and relax. Thanksgiving’s evolved over the years, that’s a good thing. We need a day of celebration that keeps up with the times. Although they didn’t know it at the time the Pilgrims were praying for Football, prepackaged Turkey, and yes even Wal_Mart. Human nature says those Pilgrims were praying a lot harder for the future than they were thanking God for the past. I sincerely hope I have made your Thanksgiving a little brighter. Just knowing you don’t need to apologies for the lack of a traditional celebration can be a joy in it’s self. ------------ About the author: Ken Hughes joined the Republican Party at the age of three. He hid the fact from his Liberal Democratic family for the next eighteen years. When his political leanings were discovered he was immediately sent packing. Mr. Hughes life began on a ranch in Idaho 75 years ago. He’s traveled extensively to many countries of the world and five continents. He has a keen interest in people and politics. Mr. Hughes believes in the individual’s right to hold his or her own beliefs, his sole purpose for writing is to make people think, what they think is up to them. His one original quote is, "Truth is like a coin, you must see both sides to know it’s not counterfeit." Email: ken-hughes@comcast.net Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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