Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough. ~ Oprah Winfrey

What’s Thanksgiving Really About?

Thanksgiving, as I’ve mentioned in past years is my favorite holiday. But as some of you know, I work at perhaps the most liberal college, in perhaps the most liberal area of the United States. So it’s not surprising on campus to hear Thanksgiving described as celebrating a colonizer’s holiday. A holiday that celebrates how white people from Europe came to America, got helped by Native Americans and the proceeded to commit genocide on them. Then, the white American school system disneyfied the whole story to happy Pilgrims and Native Americans to the current story we pump into textbooks to brainwash all the bad stuff away.

While there certainly is a lot of truth in that narrative, that’s the what of the history of Thanksgiving, the history of the holiday and the way America operates. And like so many things in life, we have a choice to how we view things. We can choose to hang onto the cynical take and make the decision that because of the origins of this holiday we should shun the holiday, or deride it for the idiocy of American political thought.

But that’s not the choice I’ve made with this holiday, because in that original story of Thanksgiving, in fact Native Americans did help out the Pilgrims. Initially, I’m sure those colonists were grateful and that basic attitude of gratitude to me, is the important thing that has become the central tradition of the holiday. Hell, many people even celebrate November as gratitude month, that doesn’t happen without this holiday.

Sure, we’ve all developed our own traditions around the holiday. For some it’s hunting, for some it’s a huge family dinner, for others a quiet time away from the world or watching football. For me, because I grew up hunting Thanksgiving morning, Thanksgiving day always meant eating a huge breakfast, passing out watching football only to wake up to an early dinner and finish off the day hunting. So as life has gone along, my tradition has morphed a bit, I no longer hunt. So, my tradition is a hike, time outside is critical, I always cook, I always eat a lot. This year the menu includes Cornish Game Hens, lasagna, deviled eggs, stuffed mushrooms, stuffing, potatoes and my standard chocolate pie. There is still football watching, napping and probably a bit of writing.

One of the core reasons for the hike, for the time outside is time to think and time to consider what I’m grateful for, no matter how bad things are at the time. You may have had recent deaths in your family, illnesses, your dog may have recently died, a family member may be going through cancer, you might be super lonely, or taking care of an ill parent.You may be really dissatisfied with where you are in life right now or the things you’re dealing with. But we are all grateful, not just for something, but many things in life. You may be thankful for the family that you have around you, your job, your financial standing in life. You may be thankful for having healthy children, or good friends. You might just be thankful for the fact that you’re able to have a nice holiday dinner. And at the end of the day, in this country, most of us can be thankful for our first world reality. We have food, shelter, entertainment, cell phones that cost as much as computers, we’re blessed and lucky in many ways. So on this one day a year, we make the extra effort to see past the bad, to appreciate the good in our lives and be thankful for it, that’s what Thanksgiving is all about to me and I hope for you. Have a happy day my friends and a happy Thanksgiving. ~ Rev Kane