Thanks to family, friendships
Feasting, family and football. That’s today’s agenda for many if not most Americans. Thanksgiving, one dictionary states, gives people the opportunity to express “thanks, especially to God” as well as “a public celebration in acknowledgment of divine favor or kindness.”
In the aftermath of a testy national election, we could all appreciate kindness. Especially around the dinner table.
History is all too often lost on many Americans — those who are disinterested, distracted and disconnected to the world outside their own sphere. Here’s a lesson to those and a reminder to others.
A month after a small ship called the Mayflower dropped anchor near the tip of Cape Cod in In November 1621, the crew and settlers then sailed to a place now called Plymouth, named after the city they left in England. Native Americans in the Wampanoag tribe befriended the Pilgrims, teaching them how to cultivate corn, catch river fish and tap maple trees for syrup.
After the colonialists’ first fruitful corn harvest, farming they learned from the indigenous people, the settlers organized a celebratory feast with their newfound Native American friends — the day now known as the first Thanksgiving, though historians have recorded other ceremonial days of thanks among settlers preceding the Pilgrims, including one in St. Augustine, Florida.
The 1621 menu? Lobster, swans and seals. The Wampanoag also brought five deer. Nobody knows for certain if turkey graced the tables.
Two years later, the Pilgrims celebrated a second day of feasting. A tradition was born.
In 1789, George Washington issued the nation’s first Thanksgiving proclamation — to celebrate the successful end to the Revolutionary War and the ratification of the American Constitution. But not until 1863, amid the Civil War, did a president, Abraham Lincoln, declare a national Thanksgiving Day to be celebrated each November.
History is being written today, as it is after every presidential election. The past two years have been particularly hard on Americans, and kindness can be in short supply this year over politics. One thing is certain: The election’s over. The votes are in. It’s time to discuss the future — and, we hope, in a constructive and gracious way.
Family debates are a staple of the holidays, and they can get heated. Some holiday movies revel in the what amounts to a food fight. We laugh at those scenes in the movies. Then we replay them in reality. Let’s hold hands and pray instead.
In reviewing the Twitter universe, comments show the partisan political divide has trickled down to what should be our best relationships — family. Some tweets reflect that division:
▪ “I’m uninvited from thanksgiving dinner on my dads side because I made a political post on facebook not even directly against trump”
▪ “My family uninvited one of my aunts to thanksgiving Bc she voted for trump” — this followed by three crying emoticons.
▪ ”No one in my family voted for Trump so let me know if you want me to come over and argue with your family this Thanksgiving”
Our favorite tweet puts the entire matter in the proper perspective:
▪ “Heard folk are getting uninvited to thanksgiving dinner based on who you voted for. That’s insane. Life is too short. Make it right w/family”
Yes, yes, yes.
Our second favorite tweet spotlights the best of us: “Thanksgiving and Christmas are the holidays where you get all dressed up to just be in your kitchen and living room.”
Two authors writing for the Philadelphia Inquirer quoted one of their sisters, a text message that should apply to every household in America: “No talking politics when we get together for the holiday.”
Celebrate family, friendship and kindness this day and every holiday. Let hugs and kisses reign. Smiles and laughter around the table. Happy Thankgiving to you and your family. May you be blessed with the kindness that should be the hallmark of this day.
This story was originally published November 23, 2016 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Thanks to family, friendships."