- Jan 21, 2006
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY? or HAPPY TURKEY DAY?
As we approach one of our favorite times to celebrate with family, friends, and in-laws, we think about this special time called "Thanksgiving." Yet we hear of some calling it "Turkey Day". So which is it? "Thanksgiving" or "Turkey Day?" Which is correct? Well, let's think about it for a bit.
We celebrate Thanksgiving on the 4th Thursday of November, yet this was not the original date. It was set as the 4th Thursday of November by the US Congress in 1941. So, when was the first Thanksgiving celebrated in the Massachusetts Colony in 1621? No one knows for sure. We believe it was between the end of September and mid-November, when the crops were gathered in. It wasn't a one-day festival of celebration, but rather a three-day celebration.
It was similar to the Biblical Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot, which is celebrated between the end of September and mid-October. During this time Israel praised God for the crops and blessings bestowed upon them by God. The Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot is celebrated every year for 7 days, and one extra day.
So, let's talk about the food at the first Thanksgiving late in the year of 1621. We know that the native Americans of the Wampanoag tribe were a God sent, Squanto being the mediator. After a disastrous 1620, the Wampanoags helped them farm and grow vegetables, so, besides wild turkeys, they also had venison, or "deer meat" hunted by the Indians, so, why not call it "Deer Day?" or "Pumpkin Day?" after all, they probably had those too. The menu probably consisted of: "wild turkey, deer meat, corn, squash, bay oysters, clams, and fish. But everyone seems to be focused on the Turkeys. What's with that, you turkey?
It's great to feast on oven-roasted turkeys, stuffing, and all the trimmings, and have the friends and family over, and eat pumpkin pie, pecan pie, apple pie, or whatever pie you like. (Here in El Salvador, those are nonexistent) You have to make them from scratch. Everyone sits down after dinner, watches football on the tube, and grandpa goes to sleep in the easy chair, and the football game watches grandpa instead.
It's great to have this good time, but let's give thanks to whom thanks is owed, not to the creation (the turkey) but to the creator (God).
Yes, he created the turkeys and the rest of the birds on day 5 of creation, yet HE is the creator and to HIM must we give thanks.
When Thanksgiving comes around this Thursday, a good idea might be a table discussion of why we are thankful; the football game can wait. I would probably be like grandpa, asleep in the chair while the football game is going on. Sports are boring to me, unless I can actually play in the game personally.
Well, let's see. What do we have to be thankful for? Well, we have food on the table and we have our health to eat the food. We have money to buy the food, and we must have jobs to make the money to buy the food. We thank God that we have families, which makes working and providing for them all worthwhile. We have clothing because I doubt we sit around the dinner table in our birthday suits. We have homes where we live, and even AC in some places (not here, only at the Malls, in the banks, and in the supermarkets). We have fresh air to breathe (I guess that depends on where you live), we have parks, and places for R & R (here, the ocean for swimming and surfing). We have our congregations where we go to receive God's WORD.
Yet we also have something precious we can not buy, and that is the gift of Salvation through Jesus Christ (Yeshua HaMashiach) and the promise of eternal life with HIM in Heaven, and a place set aside for us to live by his side for all eternity. We have the abilities through the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) to serve the LORD while we are Earth-bound, and we can look forward to eternal Shalom and fellowship with God forever.
So yes, Happy Thanksgiving to all.
(best result, bake the turkey in an oven bag, that way, it won't dry out) Here. The best we can hope for is slices of turkey ham from the deli, or a small smoked, boneless turkey (that usually costs more than we care to spend).
