Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day is an American holiday that began as a harvest celebration. [1]  According to mentalfloss.com, seven other nations have more or less a similar day: they are Germany ("Erntedankfest"  - "a rural and a religious celebration" [2]), Japan ("Kinrō Kansha no Hi" - a day to celebrate labor and the fruits of labor [3]), Canada (a day to be thankful for the country's bountiful harvest), Grenada (a day of remembrance) Liberia (a day to celebrate freedom), The Netherlands (a day of cookies and coffee) and Norfolk Island (a day of church celebration). [4]

Thanksgiving in the United States is a time for family and friends to get together and enjoy each other's company.  It is also an especially difficult time for those who are alone and lonely, especially for the elderly, for those who are sick and for those who are unemployed and poor, who are on their own during the year-end holidays.  God does not forget them; and it is up to them to invite God into their lives through prayer so that peace will settle within their interior replacing the void within.

Peace is a gift from God.  It is subtle and is often taken for granted so that giving thanks for its presence is often neglected, as is giving thanks for the gift of a bountiful harvest and of food that sustains life.

The last time this blogger said grace before and after his meals [5] was decades ago when he was attending a Catholic boarding school run by Benedictine monks. Everyone had to stand to say grace before sitting down to eat and had to stand again and say grace after the monks in charge of the boarders were done with their meals even though not all the boarders were done eating (the boarders were not slow eaters; they were just busy chatting, laughing and having fun).  After saying grace, they could sit back down and finish their meals.

That period was this blogger's happiest.  He imagines Heaven to be a place where every spirit knows each another and joins together in a continuous celebration of peace, happiness, love and thanksgiving that is exponentially more fun and fulfilling than anything life on earth can offer, but life, as difficult as it can be at times, is a chance for one to get to know the suffering Christ through Whom one is able to know God [6] Whose love one has every reason to be thankful for, not only on Thanksgiving Day in America but every day everywhere in the world.


[1] http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/history-of-thanksgiving
[2] http://www.harvestfestivals.net/germanfestivals.htm
[3] http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/calendar/november/labor.html
[4] http://mentalfloss.com/article/60261/how-7-other-nations-celebrate-thanksgiving
[5] http://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/online-resources/Mealtime-Prayers.cfm
[6] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2014:6