It's a little preachy, but...

“Giving Thanks”
By: Robin Forrey


Thanksgiving is the time of year where you give thanks for what happened throughout the year with family members. Some families will visit with relatives in other countries, or vice versa. Some families celebrate it with friends. Some just sit at home in front of the TV and watch episodes of “The Simpsons” while eating turkey sandwiches. Whatever you fall under, you give thanks to the Superior Being(s) that you worship for what happened throughout the year.

You can give thanks for all kinds of things. It may be about little things, such as thanking someone for opening a door for you. It could be about important things, like getting that passing grade for an important class that you can’t pass high school without. It could also be about things important to you, like finding out you had just enough money to get that very awesome game that just came out. Or it could even be about silly things, like thanking the Superior Being(s) for supplying you with breathable air. No matter what, there is always something to thank someone or something for doing for you or to others.

Thanksgiving, from my point of view, has evolved (Or, perhaps, the proper term would be devolved) into pretty much a large dinner where you say “Thank you” over and over again to remind you that something nice has happened to you and that you shouldn’t complain about anything, little or otherwise.

If you read too deeply into that last paragraph, you would think I was saying Thanksgiving is not important. Hey, even I thought that when I wrote the first sentence. But no, what I’m saying is that I believe the meaning of Thanksgiving has changed over the past few hundred years. Many people have different ideas of how the first Thanksgiving was. Some people think it was a celebration of the Pilgrims and the Native Americans coming together (at least for a day). Some believe it was because the pilgrims had an abundance of crops that day many, many years ago and decided to hold a large feast. Others believe there has always been a Thanksgiving sort of holiday where everyone would thank their god(s) for a successful harvest. Whatever the belief, they all tend to revolve around the year’s harvest and thanking some Superior Being(s) for the harvest.

Have a good Thanksgiving, and enjoy your harvested food!