Happy Thanksgiving!
Thursday is a holiday for us Americans. We celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November every year. The history of the holiday goes back to the autumn of 1621 when the Governor of the Plymouth Colony, William Bradford, called for a day of thanksgiving. What were they thankful for? God granted the Pilgrims survival through an abysmal winter in their first year at Plymouth. They joined with local Native Americans to feast on turkey and venison for three days.
Later in America's history, our first President, George Washington, issued a proclamation of a nation-wide day of thanksgiving. He declared that the day should be one of prayer and giving thanks to God.
The modern-day celebration of this holiday is quite different. It is a day to gather with family and friends to eat and watch football together. What remains of the heritage is usually only a two minute prayer said before the feast to give thanks to God for allowing everyone to have a day off work so that they can overindulge in food.
It is interesting to note why the holiday was moved from the last Thursday of the month to the fourth Thursday of the month. In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Thanksgiving Day a week earlier. Why? To foster more thankfulness and God-centeredness for the day? No. He moved Thanksgiving up to encourage more shopping for Christmas. Maybe he felt the need to help along another holiday that needed to be refocused on its historical roots?
Even if Thanksgiving isn't an official holiday for Australians, it may be a wonderful time to stop and give thanks for God's mercy, grace and sustenance. So, happy Thanksgiving!