Thanksgiving is an historical, cultural, and spiritual paradox. Regarding the history of the holiday we celebrate this evening, any student in any American school around the world can tell you the story of how in the year 1621, the “First Thanksgiving” was celebrated by English Pilgrims and native American Indians in the Plymouth, Massachusetts colony. Paradoxically, however, the first recorded communal Thanksgiving celebration in North America was actually celebrated 80 years before, in 1541, by a Spanish explorer and his companions in western Texas.
Furthermore, Thanksgiving did not become an official annual holiday celebration in the United States until 1863, nearly 250 years after the pilgrim’s “First Thanksgiving”, when in the midst of the American civil war, President Abraham Lincoln declared: “I…invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart the last Thursday of November… as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwells in heaven.” And so it turns out that the origins of this holiday are somewhat more complex than what many of us have been led to believe.
Culturally, Thanksgiving is often regarded as the quintessential American Holiday. The mention of Thanksgiving conjures up images, tastes, and experiences that are uniquely American: Pilgrims and Indians, turkey with stuffing, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce and, of course, falling asleep while watching football on television. Paradoxically, however, communal celebrations of thanks are as old and widespread as civilization itself. Ever since the first “Successful Hunt” and the first “Good Harvest” humans have gathered together to give thanks and celebrate their good fortune. Festivals, rituals, and traditions of “Giving Thanks” are well-documented in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and China, and they continue to be important features of virtually every society around the world today. And so it turns out that the American celebration of Thanksgiving is just one small and recent chapter in humankind’s story of communal expressions of thankfulness.
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Finally, let us reflect for a moment on the spiritual aspect of Thanksgiving. Throughout history, from the ancient Greeks to Abraham Lincoln’s declaration of 1863, celebrations of thanks have generally had explicit ties to religion and even to specific Gods or Goddesses. It is interesting to note, however that in modern American Society Thanksgiving has become what we might call a “Secular” holiday. Unlike Christmas and Easter, unlike Hanukkah or Ramadan, it is not tied to any particular religion; it is not a feast or holiday of any particular church; and it does not require that one subscribes to any particular set of values, beliefs, or religious practices. All it requires is our humanity, and so it turns out that here we find the most striking and profound paradox of all: that in being independent of organized religious doctrine. Thanksgiving is the only holiday capable of spiritually uniting all people across time and space; and it does so by invoking one of our most fundamental human experiences, the experience of gratitude. Paradoxically, it is this non-religious yet powerfully spiritual experience of gratitude which lays the foundation for all religious beliefs and practices found around the world today. It is gratitude that causes us to know deep within our hearts that a loving and generous God is present in our lives. It is gratitude that leads us to seek a relationship with this God through prayer. And it is gratitude which moves us to come together with others to share and express our spiritual selves through communal worship.
In closing allow me to share with you a short Thanksgiving quote from an early 20th – Century American writer by the name of Edward Sandford Martin. He wrote: “Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, just once a year; but to the honest person it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow.” Thank you for being here this evening, and I wish you all a Very Happy Thanksgiving today, and every day.
Rio de Janeiro, November 2011
Josh Rundle
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