Thanksgiving, 2010

Behind the holiday is the famous "first Thanksgiving" put on by the Pilgrims in 1621. The Plymouth colonists and the local Indians shared a meal together. It wasn't until 1863 that the holiday became official. President Lincoln set aside the last Thursday in November as a national Day of Thanksgiving.

Nationally, it made sense back then, but it's somewhat hard to believe today. I mean, religion in the public square is frowned upon. How in the world we get away with having a "national day of Thanksgiving" (let alone the day that follows) is hard to say. It's not possible to assume that this "Thanksgiving" is anything but a reference to some sort of God (since no one sees it as a day to give thanks to the people around you or whatever and being grateful to "good fortune" makes no sense at all). So we manage to sneak in a religious holiday every year (two, actually, if you count "Christmas" -- I mean, seriously, how can that not be a religious holiday?).

And, I have to say, it is quite remarkable. Thanksgiving is celebrated here, quite obviously, but the only other country that has such a holiday is Canada. That makes America, fighting so hard these days to be very secular, a certain stand out. While "civilized" Europe has moved away from religion, we still hang onto these vestiges. We still have Thanksgiving Day. Oddly, it is even celebrated by hardened atheists (although I'm not at all sure what it is they are celebrating). That's something.

One of the things, to me, that makes it most remarkable is this commentary by Paul. In his epistle to the church at Rome, he starts out explaining the basic problem with Man -- the suppression of truth. Despite having all the evidence required and even having the information embedded in them, "Although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened" (Rom 1:21). The basic problem with Man in his suppression of truth, then, is a failure to honor God or give thanks to Him.

So, here we are. Another Thanksgiving Day is upon us. We'll be gathering with family and friends (or not) and sharing time and food and maybe a football game or some such. And we'll know, whether we keep it in the background or make it a big deal of the day, that it's a day set aside for the primary purpose of honoring God and giving thanks to Him. The temptation will be to skip that part of the day (sin nature and all) but the name still hangs on the day -- Thanksgiving. And we indeed have more blessings than we can count. Thank you, Lord.