History of Thanksgiving

Throughout history mankind has celebrated the bountiful harvest with thanksgiving ceremonies.

Before the establishment of formal religions many ancient farmers believed that their crops contained spirits which caused the crops to grow and die. Many believed that these spirits would be released when the crops were harvested and they had to be destroyed or they would take revenge on the farmers who harvested them. Some of the harvest festivals celebrated the defeat of these spirits.

Harvest festivals and thanksgiving celebrations were held by the ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Hebrews, the Chinese, and the Egyptians.

The Greeks

The ancient Greeks worshipped many gods and goddesses. Their goddess of corn (actually all grains) was Demeter who was honored at the festival of Thesmosphoria held each autumn.
On the first day of the festival married women (possibility connecting childbearing and the raising of crops) would build leafy shelters and furnish them with couches made with plants. On the second day they fasted. On the third day a feast was held and offerings to the goddess Demeter were made - gifts of seed corn, cakes, fruit, and pigs. It was hoped that Demeter's gratitude would grant them a good harvest.

The Romans

The Romans also celebrated a harvest festival called Cerelia, which honored Ceres their goddess of corn (from which the word cereal comes). The festival was held each year on October 4th and offerings of the first fruits of the harvest and pigs were offered to Ceres. Their celebration included music, parades, games and sports and a thanksgiving feast.

The Chinese

The ancient Chinese celebrated their harvest festival, Chung Ch'ui, with the full moon that fell on the 15th day of the 8th month. This day was considered the birthday of the moon and special "moon cakes", round and yellow like the moon, would be baked. Each cake was stamped with the picture of a rabbit - as it was a rabbit, not a man, which the Chinese saw on the face of the moon.

The families ate a thanksgiving meal and feasted on roasted pig, harvested fruits and the "moon cakes". It was believed that during the 3 day festival flowers would fall from the moon and those who saw them would be rewarded with good fortune.

According to legend Chung Ch'ui also gave thanks for another special occasion. China had been conquered by enemy armies who took control of the Chinese homes and food. The Chinese found themselves homeless and with no food. Many staved. In order to free themselves they decided to attack the invaders.

The women baked special moon cakes which were distributed to every family. In each cake was a secret message which contained the time for the attack. When the time came the invaders were surprised and easily defeated. Every year moon cakes are eaten in memory of this victory.
The Hebrews

Jewish families also celebrate a harvest festival called Sukkoth. Taking place each autumn, Sukkoth has been celebrated for over 3000 years.

Sukkoth is know by 2 names - Hag ha Succot - the Feast of the Tabernacles and Hag ha Asif - the Feast of Ingathering. Sukkoth begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Tishri, 5 days after Yom Kippur the most solemn day of the Jewish year.

Sukkoth is named for the huts (succots) that Moses and the Israelites lived in as they wandered the desert for 40 years before they reached the Promised Land. These huts were made of branches and were easy to assemble, take apart, and carry as the Israelites wandered through the desert.

When celebrating Sukkoth, which lasts for 8 days, the Jewish people build small huts of branches which recall the tabernacles of their ancestors. These huts are constructed as temporary shelters, as the branches are not driven into the ground and the roof is covered with foliage which is spaced to let the light in. Inside the huts are hung fruits and vegetables, including apples, grapes, corn, and pomegranates. On the first 2 nights of Sukkoth the families eat their meals in the huts under the evening sky.

The Egyptians

The ancient Egyptians celebrated their harvest festival in honor of Min, their god of vegetation and fertility. The festival was held in the springtime, the Egyptian's harvest season.
The festival of Min featured a parade in which the Pharaoh took part. After the parade a great feast was held. Music, dancing, and sports were also part of the celebration.
When the Egyptian farmers harvested their corn, they wept and pretended to be grief-stricken. This was to deceive the spirit which they believed lived in the corn. They feared the spirit would become angry when the farmers cut down the corn where it lived.

The United States

In 1621, after a hard and devastating first year in the New World the Pilgrim's fall harvest was very successful and plentiful. There was corn, fruits, vegetables, along with fish which was packed in salt, and meat that was smoke cured over fires. They found they had enough food to put away for the winter.

The Pilgrims had beaten the odds. They built homes in the wilderness, they raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter, and they were at peace with their Indian neighbors. Their Governor, William Bradford, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving that was to be shared by all the colonists and the neighboring Native American Indians.

The custom of an annually celebrated thanksgiving, held after the harvest, continued through the years. During the American Revolution (late 1770's) a day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress.

In 1817 New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle of the 19th century many other states also celebrated a Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.

Canada

Thanksgiving in Canada is celebrated on the second Monday in October. Observance of the day began in 1879. (thanks to holiday.net)

Why Do We Run?

Why? Why do we run from a fight? On pain of irritating those who hear me doing it often, I quote from the Mel Gibson’s timeless classic, Braveheart, the heart wrenching, yet inspiring epic based on the life of Sir William Wallace. In the movie, Wallace and several other Scottish nobles have amassed an army that stands opposite the hoards of Edward Longshanks, the King of England who is set upon annihilating Wallace and forcing the people of Scotland back into submission. As the military leaders of the respective sides ride towards the center of the field to discuss possible terms, Wallace rides off after them in a fury. When one of his lieutenants calls after him, asking where he’s going, he turns back, and with an expression of childish mischief yet deadly purpose, he replies, “To pick a fight.”

Wallace must have prophetically heard a phrase uttered some centuries down the road by one Mr. Edmund Burke. He said, “All it takes for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Die he might, but Wallace would never have been accused of doing nothing. Why then do we, as conservatives, rather than welcoming the opportunity to defend our opinions with a fiery passion, we continue to run from fights? Time, and time again, we have had opportunities to win political, policy, and philosophical battles, and time and time again, we turn and run the opposite direction. I think those of us who have called ourselves traditionalists, Christians, conservatives, Republicans…whatever label you put on yourself, you know who you are. And what I’m about to say applies to most, if not all of you. For years, decades, really, we have been those who did nothing to enforce our claim to political ground. Absolutely nothing.

So, when Hillary becomes POTUS, we deserve it. Had Miers been confirmed, we deserved it. If they take away our right to take our children to Mass, Sunday School, or Synagogue, we deserve it. If they take away our national anthem because it glorifies the Biblical ideals of freedom and liberty too much, we deserve it. In similar fashion, American conservatives stood idly by as our courts paved a highway for the murder of untold millions of unborn children. We stood idly by as they removed prayer from our schools, took the Ten Commandments out of the courthouses. We said nothing when they tried to take the pledge of allegiance out of our schools. We stand idly by as they, even now, try to increase their holds on our lives by restricting the practice of the principles upon which this country was built and by which it is sustained. Two problems with that. Two really simple, logical problems. First, we have the “firepower” to win.

We have majority in Congress. We have a President with three more years. We have a Supreme Court ripe for the picking. We hold a majority of the governorships around the nation. We have a massive grassroots organization that outnumbers the Democrats by over a million. Second, we’re right. It’s that simple. We, as conservatives, hold the value systems, beliefs, and the platform that most accurately reflects correct moral principles, the beliefs held by the founders of this country, and the standards that are truest to truth, justice, equity, life, liberty, and the pursuit of the happiness that so many of us so strongly desire. That, my friends, is why my jaw dropped in absolute amazement when I heard about Harriet Mier’s withdrawal. I was unabashedly, unequivocally against her nomination. I do not think that someone who’s qualifications are relatively unknown, and who’s convictions and philosophy are in question, should even be considered. Hence, as you may assume, my surprise when I learned that Miers was to withdraw her name, and another, more conservative nominee to be offered. My question is this: why did we have to go through the pain of a failed nominee to get to this point? More importantly, why weren’t conservatives heard and heeded during the initial selection, instead of in the withdrawal consideration? Put simply, it is our job to influence the influencers, and we have not been influencing. In short, I think conservatives need to take just a moment and review the events of the last month. We need to cognitively take stock, and realize something.
I’ve said this for years, yet few seem to comprehend what it really means.

If Christian conservatives will unite, band together, and exert the political and government influence that is duly theirs, our citizen lobby would outnumber the liberals, the pro-abortionists, the environmentalists, the sodomites, and the anarchists…put together.

In the alternative, I’ll reference the chilling words of the late Reverend Martin Niemoeller. “In Germany, the Nazis first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I didn't speak up because I was a protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak for me.”