"Dinner With The Wampanoags"

Next week America will be celebrating “Thanksgiving Day” in virtually every home in our nation. I am preparing a sumptuous feast of a 20 pound turkey, sweet potato casserole, stuffing filled with bacon, onions, celery and spices; hot fresh dinner rolls, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, fresh green salad, olives, pickles and a bucket of turkey gravy. After dinner and some rest, we will all have pie, cake, ice cream and hot coffee. A few hours later, there will be turkey sandwiches and immobile conversation.

I’m sure the above described meal will be repeated all over America in millions of homes filled with happy families, all stuffed to capacity! I wonder how many of us take the time to say what we are thankful for on this special occasion. Obviously, we are thankful for the wonderful food that has satiated our hunger, but isn’t the food just a symbol for what America means to us?

We have a wonderful Constitution that is designed to offer every American the chance to succeed if he or she is willing to put forth effort in the seeking of their dreams.

In 1620, when the Mayflower left England, there was no America, only a new unexplored land that offered those pilgrims a chance to practice their faith without encumbrance from the Crown of England; that was all they wanted and were willing to do the rest of the work on their own. In 1621, those pilgrims landed in North America and established the village of Plymouth in what was later to be Massachusetts. After their harvest, at a time when they felt most blessed, they shared a feast with the Wampanoag Indian tribe; the “First Thanksgiving” in our infant nation. I’m assuming the turkeys they ate were wild, and the corn was grown by them, and the Indians were welcome guests, even if they didn’t understand the ways of these new residents in their “New World”.

I’m sure their meal started out with a prayer of thanksgiving to God, for His provision and mercy which He had shown to them in their new home. I’m sure this prayer was from every heart in the new settlement, people who were strangers in a strange land and trusted in God for every instance of their lives.

Today, we all share laughter and tell stories and get ready for the “big game” on television, yet I wonder how many of us really take stock of our blessings in this great nation, in the same way those brave and faithful pilgrims did so many years ago.

On Thursday, we should all enjoy a terrific dinner with all the trimmings; all those smells coming from our respective kitchens which make our mouths water. The smell of turkey and sweet potatoes are wonderful, but the aroma we all should enjoy the most is the “smell of individual freedom” that we have in America, the sweetest smell in the world!

I hope all of you have a most wonderful and DELICIOUS “Thanksgiving Day” holiday; and I hope all of you give thanks for our American blessing!!

 

(I am taking Thanksgiving week off, enjoy yourselves!!)