Cranberry Sauce and Pumpkin Pie
Turkeys and cornucopias and
pilgrim hats. Seasoned stuffing hot
from the oven. Creamed onions,
cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.
Uncles and aunts and cousins to
play with. Grandmothers and
grandfathers with family gathered
round. Children waiting for the Great Pumpkin rise over
Charlie Brown's pumpkin patch and dads watching college
football. A day to relax and maybe rake leaves in the
afternoon.
But Thanksgiving? How much will our celebrations
on Thanksgiving have to do with giving thanks?
A glance at the first Thanksgiving brings it all back. On
December 21, 1620 the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth rock.
Through the dead of winter the colony struggled with poor
and meager food, strenuous labor, a biting wind that chilled
to the bone, and the ravages of disease. Nearly half the 102
Mayflower passengers did not live to see Spring refresh
Cape Cod Bay.
But God sent Indians--Samoset, Squanto, and Massasoit--to
help the English settlers plant and hunt and fish. The
bountiful harvest that autumn led Governor Bradford to
invite the Indians to celebrate God's goodness. Ninety tall
braves accepted the invitation to join the Pilgrims in a feast
of Thanksgiving to God for His blessings.
The Pilgrims lived close enough to the soil to know how
dependent they were on God's Providence. They had
learned to thank God in the midst of the bitterness of winter
past. And they were quick to thank Him during abundant
blessing, too.
We teach our children to say "please" and "thank you" as
the rudiments of courtesy, yet it is so easy to be rude and
unthinking toward God. How often we forget to gratefully
acknowledge His goodness towards us.
This Thanksgiving let your prayers and expressions of love
rise toward your Heavenly Father.
"What shall I render unto the Lord for all His
benefits toward me? I will take the cup of
salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord."
(Psalm 116:12-13)
[ by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson ]
Inspirational Stories
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