THANKSGIVING REFLECTIONS 2014
Merrilee and I are celebrating Thanksgiving at the Ludlow farm in Laingsburg, Michigan, a rural community near East Lansing. My daughter, Cara, and her husband, Kevin, have invested their blood, sweat and every spare dollar into building and creating their outstanding home and property which is ideal for a large Thanksgiving celebration.
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Exotic looking chickens roam the fields and the expansive yard earning their way with a constant supply of fresh eggs. An organic garden provides an abundance of vegetables for Thanksgiving and the winter. Beautiful and friendly horses frolic in the fields.
Alex, the eldest of my three grandchildren, is graduating from college this year with a goal of working to find cures to the diseases of aging, which makes him particularly special in my eyes. He is also a talented artist, specializing in "doodle art."
Emma, 16, and Anna, 12, are bright, lovely and charming young Ladies who occupy an irreplaceable place in our hearts.
So when it comes to being thankful, my daughter and her family are great blessings in our lives and to be at their home for Thanksgiving Day is a special treat.
My son in law, Kevin, is a Canadian and would have been celebrating Thanksgiving a couple of weeks earlier if he still lived in Canada where Thanksgiving occurs on the second Monday in October.
In 1621, the first known Thanksgiving in North America took place in Plymouth, Massachusetts, as colonists joined with a tribe of Wampanoag Native Americans to celebrate their survival and their harvest of their first year in the "New World." The Wampanoags contributed five deer for the three day festival of feasting and friendly games.
In 1789, George Washington issued a proclamation of Thanksgiving for the conclusion of the War of Independence and the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the final Thursday in November as a yearly celebration of Thanksgiving.
In 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt, succumbing to pressure from the business sector to move the holiday up a week to spur retail sales during the Great Depression, signed a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving.
But Thanksgiving is so much more than just a U.S. and Canadian phenomena. Throughout the world and its history, it has been a societal tradition to express thanks for a bountiful harvest.
In ancient Greece, citizens celebrated for three days in gratitude to Deteter, the goddess of corn and grain.
The ancient Egyptians thanked Min, the god of vegetation and fertility during their harvest festival. The Romans honored Ceres, the goddess of corn (from which the word "cereal" is derived.) (Howstuffworks.com)
For 3000 years, the Jewish culture has celebrated Sukkot, a harvest celebration lasting 8 days.
In China, it's called the August Moon Fesitval.
In the U.S., it's called Thanksgiving as families and friends come together to focus on their blessings. On this day, there is an acceptance and appreciation of each other in spite of petty imperfections and UNCONDITIONAL LOVE reigns supreme.
Thanksgiving is traditionally celebrated with a bountiful, delicious dinner for which we are greatly thankful, especially with the awareness that not all inhabitants of the world, including many in the U.S. are not blessed with the availability of tasty and nutritional food.
Every day, world wide, 1.5 million people die from hunger. This includes 16,000 children, as one child dies every five seconds from hunger! Most of these deaths are in developing countries, with Asia, Africa and Latin America leading the way.
In the United States, the world's wealthiest nation, a Thanksgiving dinner is not available for 14.3 percent of our citizens, which is 49.1 million people, including 15.8 million children. (www.bread.org).
Fortunately, many U.S. citizens express their THANKS by GIVING their time and/or money to provide a Thanksgiving meal for the hungry.
However, EVERY DAY should be a day of THANKS for our many blessings and a day of GIVING to others.
GIVING creates multidirectional ripples. A genuine compliment, a sincere smile, a kind word, a loving expression of understanding, acceptance and validation can brighten the days and lives of everyone we encounter.
Exotic looking chickens roam the fields and the expansive yard earning their way with a constant supply of fresh eggs. An organic garden provides an abundance of vegetables for Thanksgiving and the winter. Beautiful and friendly horses frolic in the fields.
Alex, the eldest of my three grandchildren, is graduating from college this year with a goal of working to find cures to the diseases of aging, which makes him particularly special in my eyes. He is also a talented artist, specializing in "doodle art."
Emma, 16, and Anna, 12, are bright, lovely and charming young Ladies who occupy an irreplaceable place in our hearts.
So when it comes to being thankful, my daughter and her family are great blessings in our lives and to be at their home for Thanksgiving Day is a special treat.
My son in law, Kevin, is a Canadian and would have been celebrating Thanksgiving a couple of weeks earlier if he still lived in Canada where Thanksgiving occurs on the second Monday in October.
In 1621, the first known Thanksgiving in North America took place in Plymouth, Massachusetts, as colonists joined with a tribe of Wampanoag Native Americans to celebrate their survival and their harvest of their first year in the "New World." The Wampanoags contributed five deer for the three day festival of feasting and friendly games.
In 1789, George Washington issued a proclamation of Thanksgiving for the conclusion of the War of Independence and the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the final Thursday in November as a yearly celebration of Thanksgiving.
In 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt, succumbing to pressure from the business sector to move the holiday up a week to spur retail sales during the Great Depression, signed a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving.
But Thanksgiving is so much more than just a U.S. and Canadian phenomena. Throughout the world and its history, it has been a societal tradition to express thanks for a bountiful harvest.
In ancient Greece, citizens celebrated for three days in gratitude to Deteter, the goddess of corn and grain.
The ancient Egyptians thanked Min, the god of vegetation and fertility during their harvest festival. The Romans honored Ceres, the goddess of corn (from which the word "cereal" is derived.) (Howstuffworks.com)
For 3000 years, the Jewish culture has celebrated Sukkot, a harvest celebration lasting 8 days.
In China, it's called the August Moon Fesitval.
In the U.S., it's called Thanksgiving as families and friends come together to focus on their blessings. On this day, there is an acceptance and appreciation of each other in spite of petty imperfections and UNCONDITIONAL LOVE reigns supreme.
Thanksgiving is traditionally celebrated with a bountiful, delicious dinner for which we are greatly thankful, especially with the awareness that not all inhabitants of the world, including many in the U.S. are not blessed with the availability of tasty and nutritional food.
Every day, world wide, 1.5 million people die from hunger. This includes 16,000 children, as one child dies every five seconds from hunger! Most of these deaths are in developing countries, with Asia, Africa and Latin America leading the way.
In the United States, the world's wealthiest nation, a Thanksgiving dinner is not available for 14.3 percent of our citizens, which is 49.1 million people, including 15.8 million children. (www.bread.org).
Fortunately, many U.S. citizens express their THANKS by GIVING their time and/or money to provide a Thanksgiving meal for the hungry.
However, EVERY DAY should be a day of THANKS for our many blessings and a day of GIVING to others.
GIVING creates multidirectional ripples. A genuine compliment, a sincere smile, a kind word, a loving expression of understanding, acceptance and validation can brighten the days and lives of everyone we encounter.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING and LOVE from Ray and Merrilee!
Happy Thanksgiving to you! What a beautiful and vivid description of the farm! It was great to see you yesterday! Thanks for these words which were a wonderful start to a Thanksgiving day during which we won't be visiting the farm!
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