Thanksgiving

I am not sure of the term, "end gathering." I am
going to assume it is the same thing as "ingath-
ering." If this is the intention, it is the Feast of
Tabernacles of Sukkot. We celebrate it for six
days, most of us building a booth in our yards
(for apartment-dwellers, upon our outside
decks.)

Our booths are made of leaves and wood, and
the ceiling is built so that we can see the sky
through it. We eat, converse, play games, and
invite guests to our booths. Some people even
sleep there. There is always special food,
fresh fruit and vegetables, and joy.

This is where we celebrate the birth of our Lord
--for six days, for those who think we do not
celebrate His birth. 8o) This holy day was in
September, toward the end of the month this
year. It follows quickly on the heels of Yom
Kippur, our holiest day of the year--one of
fasting, searching the heart, seeking forgive-
ness, and prayer.

 

http://www.night.net/thanksgiving/Mayflower.html

You can read about it at the above site.

Julia

 

http://members.aol.com/calebj/mayflower.html

This site has a wealth of info on the Pilgrims. Tis one of my favorites!

Julia

 

edit note: I got interrupted by a phone call partway through this post and didn't know Julia had already answered much of it! Thank you Julia.

=============

Here is the Mayflower Compact itself:
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1601-1650/plymouth/compac.htm

It was the first establishment of written law in the new colonies.

Here is the wording from the first Thanksgiving Proclamation:
http://www.msstate.edu/Archives/History/USA/colonial/first-thanksgiving-proclamation

Some interesting webpages on Thanksgiving history and miscellaneous facts about it in America:

http://pilgrims.net/plymouth/thanksgiving.htm

http://www.plimoth.org/Library/Thanksgiving/firstT.htm

Hope all that helps.

In our family, when the children were younger (they are mostly grown and gone now!), each child would make a list of what they were thankful for and after the meal, we would sit around the table and pray thanks for everything on every list. It often made quite an impression on them, reminding them of God's goodness and constant provision for all of us.

For us, a traditional Thanksgiving dinner includes:

roast turkey with either bread or rice stuffing
cranberry sauce
yams/sweet potatoes
salad (green, but often with special additions)
green beans

for dessert, apple pie and pumpkin pie, either with or without ice cream (vanilla)

Many families serve many more dishes, but we have never found it necessary to make everyone feel sick from eating too much!

[ November 11, 2002, 12:44 PM: Message edited by: Helen ]

 

When the Pilgrams came over to this country from England, ( I won't get into the why they left...it's a little involved, and might lead people off topic) They were greatful to have lived through a harsh winter...and celebrated it at the end of harvest time with thier new neighbors the native Indians with a fiest...which included turkey etc.

That in a nutshell is Thanksgiving...Thanking God for getting us through the trials in life.