The History of Thanksgiving...

We've all heard the story.  Some of us have even been blessed enough to perform in a Thanksgiving Day skit in Elementary school.  Let's refresh:
The year is 1621 and the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag Indians share feast together.  For years afterwards, people continued having these feasts until President Lincoln, during the Civil War, declared Thanksgiving a national holiday.
This holiday has been always been a holiday where people come together.  A holiday to unite despite differences.  The Natives and the Colonists had a tumultuous relationship, always changing.  And yet they had a grand feast together and sat down as equals.  During the Civil War, America was at war with itself.  Brother was fighting against brother.  People didn't realize what they were fighting for... they just wanted their sons to come home.  During the treacherous time, President Lincoln was determined to unite the country.  Part of his solution... make Thanksgiving a national holiday.  Today, people gather across the country (even the world) to celebrate the things and people they are thankful for.  They gather with friends and family... those that are important to them.  There's a ton of food, 3 football games, and laughs (usually).
To me, here's the irony.  How much progress has actually been made in these almost 400 years?  Has the country united or are we still separated by our differences?  Do we appreciate and respect all the people that are different from us, or do we stand by, judging, determining what is right and what is wrong?  Do we sit down at a table with those that are different and see them as equals, or do we only sit down with those that are close to us... those that we already love.  I am NOT saying that we are improperly celebrating our holiday.  On the contrary.  I strongly believe that we should celebrate all our holidays with the people who are most important to us.  Instead, I'm suggesting that we branch out as a nation and truly work to unite ourselves.  Find your opposite and learn to love them.  Maybe someday people won't talk about race, because it won't be a big deal.  Maybe someday people won't talk about any of our differences, because we will all be accepted for who we are, what we wear, what we believe, etc.  We will be seen as humans... as Americans.  Nothings else.  I believe that we all have good in them... no matter what... and we all need to take the time to see that good.  Then maybe that first Thanksgiving will be demonstrated throughout America everyday, not just on one Thursday in November.


"For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal." - President John F. Kennedy


"I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there's purpose and worth to each and every life." - President Ronald Reagan


"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. " - President Abraham Lincoln