Hollenbeck: HOLIDAY NEGLECT

It seems sad anymore to see how much the Thanksgiving Holiday is neglected and it that few people recognize or celebrate its real meaning. Of course, we’ve all heard the story about the Pilgrims celebrating a feast with Native Americans in colonial times, but doing a little research, one will learn a better description of its foundation. As early as 1541, a thanksgiving mass was held by Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado and his expedition at the Palo Duro Canyon in what is today the Texas Panhandle. A thanksgiving celebration took place during the Revolutionary War after the victory of the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. At that time, President Washington gave many noble reasons for a national Thanksgiving. Its celebration was intermittent until President Abraham Lincoln, in 1863, proclaimed a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelled in the Heavens” An Act by Congress in 1885 made Thanksgiving a paid holiday for all federal workers throughout the United States, and under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the date was changed to the 4th Thursday in November.
Thanksgiving was founded as a religious observance for everyone to give thanks to God for a common purpose, and many houses of worship honor this by holding special worship services. At home, it is a holiday tradition in many families where a prayer is said before a meal. Joy Fisher, a Baptist writer, states that “this holiday takes on a spiritual emphasis and includes recognition of the source of the blessings of a loving God they enjoy year round. In addition to most all faiths and ethnic backgrounds, the perception among Native Americans is not universally negative. Tim Giago, founder of the Native American Journalists Organization, sought to reconcile Thanksgiving with Native American traditions. He compared Thanksgiving to “wopila”, a thanks-giving celebration practiced by Native Americans of the Great Plains. He wrote that the idea of a day of Thanksgiving has been a part of the Native American landscape for centuries and blends in perfectly with Native American traditions.
For all of us born before the millennium, we remember “celebrating” Thanksgiving with family and friends, much in the way it was intended and has been honored for years. Fast forward to today. How many of us attend a Thanksgiving church service or even gather with friends or family to enjoy a good old-fashioned holiday meal?
As we face the day of turning back our clocks for the dreadful Daylight Savings Time ordeal, wouldn’t it be nice if we could also turn back the clock to the days when we gathered for Thanksgiving as in the past? Rather than spending a day traveling to a city and planning a campout at a local shopping mall, to trample over others grabbing items off a shelf…things you probably do not need, why don’t we spend the time with family or friends and just enjoy some good eating, visiting, and even playing a board game or two. It’s not too early to start planning what could be the beginning of a return to the type of holiday celebration that was first intended and we might enjoy putting “Thanks” back into Thanksgiving!