Opus 2017-382: Thanksgiving Countdown: Why?

Thanksgiving is coming.  It is a national holiday and like most national holidays it is celebrated with a full agenda and an empty head.  I checked out Wikipedia which has a decent article on Thanksgiving, at least the parts I read.  There is a lot of debate on where the first Thanksgiving was held.  Hopefully most of it is friendly like the discussion of the best recipe for stuffing.  Proclaiming days of thanks or days of petition have a long history in Christian circles at least.  I think the day we can look at as the beginning of our national holiday began where so much else began.

‘As President of the United States, George Washington proclaimed the first nationwide thanksgiving celebration in America marking November 26, 1789, "as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God."’

Notice that it is public and based in a faith in God.  Note also that this is in the first year of the new Constitution.  At this point only Rhode Island was holding out.  There was much to be thankful for.

Why do we celebrate this holiday today?  Is it just because it is on the calendar?  Whom, or what, are we thanking?  If you do not believe in God, welcome to the festivities but why did you come?  It might be like your wife watching football with you.  For some it is just a day to watch football.

As Christians we thank a God who is aware of our thanks.  We thank the God who is the only God and who created and maintains our world.  The pagans might also give thanks.  I understand that many in hunting cultures would thank the animal for giving its life.  We are not thanking the cow for becoming hamburger.  We are not thanking the tree for becoming a toothpick.  We are not thanking the rock for not stubbing our toe.  We are thanking God for His blessings.

One of the significant items on the Pumice Calendar is that after dinner on Thanksgiving Day we can start up the Christmas music.  That is something to be thankful for.  What makes it so easy is I-Pod, I-Tunes and Bluetooth.  What makes is special is we are singing about the Incarnation.

Blessings.