Fasting and Thanksgiving. What??

I know what you're thinking...what does fasting and Thanksgiving have to do with each other? Isn't that an oxymoron? Believe it or not, back in colonial times, they actually went hand in hand. Those of you who hated History in school might want to move on to some other mindless activity right now...

While the commonly known feast that took place in 1621 is often referred to as the first Thanksgiving, the colonists of Plymouth didn't begin observing it on a regular basis until several years later and even then, it was not at a set time each year. It was one of three holy days that they participated in: the Sabbath, the Day of Humiliation and Fasting, and the Day of Thanksgiving and Praise, the latter two only being held for special circumstances whenever they felt their situation warranted it. It wasn't until the 1700's that these two days settled into a cycle with Fast Day in the Spring and Thanksgiving Day in the fall and were observed on an annual basis.

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln declared the fourth Thursday of November the official Thanksgiving Day and the original holiday set up by the colonists many years earlier was absorbed into this national celebration. And by the way, Mr. Lincoln was convinced to declare Thanksgiving a national holiday by a woman named Sarah Josepha Hale, who had spent 40 years lobbying congressmen, presidents, and newspaper editors to create this national day of thanks. (She also is the one responsible for the words to "Mary Had a Little Lamb.")

Again, I know what you're thinking...so what?? Well, besides having some great trivia you can impress your family with during this year's Thanksgiving dinner, this information made me stop and think about those early years of our country. Throughout the incredible hardships they endured, one thing remained constant--their faith in God. When things were bad, they humbled themselves and prayed. When things were good, they praised and thanked Him for his kindness. Never did they assume a "poor me" attitude or blame someone else for their plight. Their automatic reaction was to go to God, no matter what.

In the "not my fault" society we live in, this seems foreign to some and downright wrong to others. Those faithful colonists were instrumental in creating the great country we live in. Okay, so I'm not suggesting that we all fast this Thanksgiving instead of piggying out on turkey and pumpkin pie but maybe we should take a lesson from our ancestors and adopt their philosophy of humility and thanksgiving. Imagine what we could do!