Traditional celebrations

Foods of the season

U.S. tradition compares the holiday with a meal held in 1621 by the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims who settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It is continued in modern times with the Thanksgiving dinner, traditionally featuring turkey, playing a large role in the celebration of Thanksgiving.

 

Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner

In the United States, certain kinds of food are traditionally served at Thanksgiving meals. Firstly, baked or roasted turkey is usually the featured item on any Thanksgiving feast table (so much so that Thanksgiving is sometimes referred to as “Turkey Day”). Stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet corn, other fall vegetables, and pumpkin pie are commonly associated with Thanksgiving dinner. All of these are actually native to the Americas or were introduced as a new food source to the Europeans when they arrived. The less fortunate are often provided with food at Thanksgiving time. Most communities have annual food drives that collect non-perishable packaged and canned foods, and corporations sponsor charitable distributions of staple foods and Thanksgiving dinners.

Giving thanks

Giving reverence to God before carving the turkey at a Thanksgiving dinner

Thanksgiving was originally a religious observance for all the members of the community to give thanks to God for a common purpose. Historic reasons for community thanksgivings are the 1541 thanksgiving mass after the expedition of Coronado safely crossing part of Texas and finding game, and the 1777 thanksgiving after the victory in the revolutionary battle of Saratoga. In his 1789 Proclamation, President Washington gave many noble reasons for a national Thanksgiving, including “for the civil and religious liberty,” for “useful knowledge,” and for God’s “kind care” and “His Providence.” The only presidents to inject a specifically Christian focus to their proclamation have been Grover Cleveland in 1896, and William McKinley in 1900. Several other presidents have cited the Judeo-Christian tradition. Gerald Ford’s 1975 declaration made no clear reference to any divinity.

The tradition of giving thanks to God is continued today in various forms. Various religious and spiritual organizations offer services and events on Thanksgiving themes the weekend before, the day of, or the weekend after Thanksgiving.

At home, it is a holiday tradition in many families to begin the Thanksgiving dinner by saying grace (a prayer before or after a meal). The custom is portrayed in the photograph “Family Holding Hands and Praying Before a Thanksgiving Meal.” Traditionally grace was led by the hostess or host, though in later times it is usual for others to contribute.

 

Having said all that…..

We all must remember that not everyone in America is able to ‘celebrate’ in the Traditional ways….as some have no home, or no kitchen, no food, no family or no health and the list goes on endlessly.

 

Here is our list:

 

‘Ways to Take Action’…

to see if every single American in the year 2010 actually can celebrate Thanksgiving in 2010!

 

• Check in on a neighbour that you see usually alone.
• Get a list of soup kitchens in YOUR AREA, and post them at all boards, announce at your church, etc.
• Ask the next homeless person if they have plans, if not, direct them to a soup kitchen.
• Call all single friends to make sure they are not staying alone this Thanksgiving.
• Ask your local minister, priest, rabbi if there is any help that you could offer at their events.
• Go to your local hospital and see which patients could use a visitor.
• Ask your local mortician who has recently died; and had only one visitor at burial.
• Check with your local schools, to see if there are Single Parents, and make contact to check in.
• Get creative….!

 

 

Take Action!

 

 

How do YOU propose…

 each citizen of the United States of America could Take Action to make this happen?

 

COMMENT HERE, as we have less than a week to think on this one.

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“The most recent estimate, and the first in more than a decade, shows that at minimum 744,000 men, women and children experienced homelessness in the United States on any given night in January 2005. Distressingly, about 23 percent had a disability and were homeless for long periods.

These numbers are derived from taking a snapshot of the problem; the reality is that homelessness is quite fluid and that over the course of the year about 3.5 million people are without a home.

Excerpt that to: http://internationalhomelessness.blogspot.com/2008/05/homeless-in-america.html

 

…but for the Grace of God there goes I….

 

 

SHARE with us Your Story of ~Taking Action~ !