Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is an annual one-day holiday to give thanks at the end of the harvest season. In the United States, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October.
According to tradition, the first American Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 by the English Pilgrims who had founded the Plymouth Colony, now in the state of Massachusetts. The Pilgrims marked the occasion by feasting with their Native American guests—members of the Wampanoag tribe—who brought gifts of food as a gesture of goodwill. Although this event was an important part of American colonial history, there is no evidence that any of the participants thought of the feast as a thanksgiving celebration. Two years later, during a period of drought, a day of fasting and prayer was changed to one of thanksgiving because rains came during the prayers. Gradually the custom prevailed among New Englanders to annually celebrate Thanksgiving after the harvest.
JUST AN INTERPRETAION OF THE FIRST THANKSGIVING
Pilgrim,Pilgrim what do you see? (By, M.Hubbard) Pilgrim,Pilgrim, What do you see? I See The King Refusing my Plea Pilgrim,Pilgrim What do you see? I see The Mayflower Ready for Sea Pilgrim,Pilgrim What Do you See? I see A New Land to Set Me Free Pilgrim,Pilgrim What do you See? I see A Hard winter Tough as can be Pilgrim,Pilgrim what do you see? I see a green bud on a Spring tree. Pilgrim,pilgrim what do you see? I see an Indian Helping me. Pilgrim,Pilgrim, What do you see? I see corn Growing 1,2,3! Pilgrim, pilgrim, what do you see? I See Praise, For thankful are we!
ANOTHER INTERUPTATION OF THE FIRST THANKSGIVING
Five Fat Turkeys: Five Fat Turkeys are We We Slept all night in a tree when the cook came around, We couldn't be found and thats why we are here you see! Oh Five fat turkeys are we we slept all night in a tree It sure does pay on Thanksgiving Day to Sleep in the tallest tree.
The Blessing Of Thorns Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes as she pushed against a November gust and the florist shop door. Her life had been easy, like a spring breeze. Then in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a minor automobile accident stole that from her. During this Thanksgiving week she would have delivered a son. She grieved over her loss. As if that weren't enough, her husband's company threatened a transfer. Then her sister, whose holiday visit she coveted, called saying she could not come for the holiday. Then Sandra's friend infuriated her by suggesting her grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer. She has no idea what I'm feeling, thought Sandra with a shudder. Thanksgiving? Thankful for what? She wondered. For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended her? For an airbag that saved her life but took that of her child? "Good afternoon, can I help you?" The shop clerk's approach startled her. "I....I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra. "For Thanksgiving? Do you want beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day with a customer favorite I call the Thanksgiving "Special? asked the shop clerk. "I'm convinced that flowers tell stories," she continued. "Are you looking for something that conveys 'gratitude' this thanksgiving?" "Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong." Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the shop clerk said, I have the perfect arrangement for you." Just then the shop door's small bell rang, and the shop clerk said, "Hi, Barbara...let me get your order." She politely excused herself and walked toward a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and long-stemmed thorny roses. Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped: there were no flowers. "Want this in a box?" asked the clerk. Sandra watched for the customer's response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers! She waited for laughter, but neither woman laughed. "Yes, please," Barbara, replied with an appreciative smile. "You'd think after three years of getting the special, I wouldn't be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again," she said as she gently tapped her chest. And she left with her order. "Uh," stammered Sandra, "that lady just left with, uh....she just left with no flowers! "Right, said the clerk, "I cut off the flowers. That's the Special. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet." "Oh, come on, you can't tell me someone is willing to pay for that!" exclaimed Sandra. "Barbara came into the shop three years ago feeling much like you feel today " explained the clerk. "She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had lost her father to cancer, the family business was failing, her son was into drugs, and she was facing major surgery." "That same year I had lost my husband," continued the clerk, "and for the first time in my life, had just spent the holidays alone. I had no Children, no husband, no family nearby, and too great a debt to allow any travel." "So what did you do?" asked Sandra. "I learned to be thankful for thorns," answered the clerk quietly. "I've always thanked God for the good things in my life and never questioned the good things that happened to me, but when bad stuff hit, did I ever ask questions! It took time for me to learn that dark times are important. I have always enjoyed the 'flowers' of life, but it took thorns to show me the beauty of God's comfort. You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we're afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others." Sandra sucked in her breath as she thought about the very thing her friend had tried to tell her. "I guess the truth is I don't want comfort. I've lost a baby and I'm angry with God." Just then someone else walked in the shop. "Hey, Phil!" shouted the clerk to the balding, rotund man. "My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving Special....12 thorny, long-stemmed stems!" laughed Phil as the clerk handed him a tissue-wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator. "Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra incredulously. "Do you mind me asking why she wants something that looks like that?" "No...I'm glad you asked," Phil replied. "Four years ago my wife and I nearly divorced. After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord's grace and guidance, we slogged through problem after problem. He rescued our marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she learned from "thorny" times, and that was good enough for me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label each one for a specific "problem" and give thanks for what that problem taught us." As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, "I highly recommend the Special!" "I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life." Sandra said. It's all too...fresh." "Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that thorns make roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember, it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love. Don't resent the thorns." Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened her grip on resentment. "I'll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns, please," she managed to choke out. "I hoped you would," said the clerk gently. "I'll have them ready in a minute." "Thank you. What do I owe you?" "Nothing. Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart. The first year's arrangement is always on me." The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra. "I'll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you would like to read it first." It read: "My God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to You along the path of pain. Show me that, through my Tears, the colors of Your rainbow look much more brilliant." Praise Him for your roses; thank him for your thorns!
SELF EXPLANATORY
SOME Turkey Facts: * There are many reasons given being the name 'Turkey' for the particular bird. While some think it simply because it produces the sound of 'turk, turk…', others trace it back to the Native American version of the name of the bird, which was 'Firkee'. Some others connect the origin of the word to Christopher Columbus, who mistook America for India and 'turkey' for a type of peacock. Thus, he tried to name the word based on the Tamil translation of peacock, which he knew was 'Tuka'. Though, it was discovered later that the bird actually belonged to the pheasant family, people kept using the name for the bird. * While there was some conflict over 'turkey' and 'bald eagle' for being the National Bird of America. Benjamin Franklin voted out 'bald eagle' for being cowardly. * Though people prefer the meat of older male turkeys for they find younger tom turkeys to be too stringy, they prefer younger female turkeys for older female ones have tougher meat. * People do name turkeys according to their age - Turkeys less than sixteen weeks old are called 'fryers' while those between five to seven months of age are called 'young roasters'. * Turkey is the only native poultry breed of the Western Hemisphere. * Turkeys have great hearing skills but no ears. * Turkeys can see in colors, have excellent visual acuity and their field of vision spans across about 270 degrees. * Turkeys have poor sense of smell but great sense of taste. * Wild turkeys can fly at a speed of as much as 55 miles per hour over short distances and are good runners with a speed of about 25 miles per hour. * Turkeys are so sensitive that they can drown by looking up while it is raining and can have heart attacks due to sudden shocks. * Next time on Thanksgiving Day, try the ballroom dance known as the 'Turkey Trot', which is based on the short, jerky steps of the turkeys.
