ThanksgivingThanksgiving is an American holiday celebrated at the end of

the autumn harvestautumn harvest. In the USA it is observed on the fourth

Thursday of each November and in Canada on the second

Monday of October.

It is a time of giving thanks to God for His provision of

foodfood, for our good healthgood health and all our blessingsblessings.

It is also a time of celebrating people’s lovelove and friendshipfriendship.

That is why, families and friends get together to be with each other and express their

love and appreciation for each other and their thanks to God for giving them everything

they have. They eat special meals of turkey, sweet potatoes, corn and pumpkins, of which they make delicious pies. All these are local

products of the American continent.

An interesting custom of this day, on which millions of turkeys are killed, is that

the President of the USA chooses one turkey and saves its life. Also, the

President and his family serve food to poor people.

The story of the first thanksgiving goes back to 1621, when people from England came to settle in America. Today those people are called “the

pilgrims”. They left England because of their faith. They did not want to

follow the practices of the Church of England, and because of that, the king of England persecuted them and put

them to prison.

PILGRIMS GOING TO CHURCH by George Henry Boughton, 1833-1905

They are also called “the puritans” (from the word “pure”), because they were trying to live a very godly

life. They studied the Bible, they attended church and

they dressed very conservatively.

King JAMES 1st

Finally, the king agreed to let them out of prison, but they had to leave the country of

England.

There, they had to start their new lives, but things were very difficult in the beginning.

A number of them died of illnesses.

In 1620, the first group of puritans set sail for America on the ship “Mayflower” and they

arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

As the story goes, some good - hearted native Americans (Indians) decided to help the pilgrims and taught them where to find food and how to grow local products, such as corn, pumpkins, sweet potatoes etc.

A year later, in 1621, the grateful pilgrims invited their Indian friends to have a feast with them, in order to thank them and to celebrate together their first year in the new homeland.

But, before the meal, they thanked God for bringing them in a new country, where they were free and had plenty of food. In time, this feast became a tradition and has developed into the holiday of Thanksgiving.

Always keep in mind…

What are the things you can be thankful for? Please, watch the following video, it may give you some ideas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBwQZ3vtXRE&feature=related