November 26, 2008 8:42 AM
Thanksgiving: Make It Real for Your Children
Make the First Thanksgiving Real to Your Children
Barbara Curtis
Crosswalk.com Contributing WriterI'd stuffed many a turkey before I really understood Thanksgiving. Oh sure, I knew we were supposed to be thankful, and once I became a Christian I knew who we were thanking. But it wasn't 'til I taught my children at home that I really got the whole story.
Unfortunately, these days that story keeps getting harder to find.
For years, many public schools have left God out of Thanksgiving, teaching instead that the Pilgrims gave a party to thank the Native Americans or Mother Earth. Even more current are claims that the first Thanksgiving was a copy of European harvest festivals or a stolen Native American custom, or just a repeat of thanksgivings by other explorers.
But the Pilgrims' own writings, and the historical events leading to the first Thanksgiving show the traditional accounts (available in pre-1960 books and encyclopedias) to be authentic. Thanksgiving was not as an isolated event, or an imitation, but a uniquely inspired Christian celebration - the culmination of a long journey of faith in which the Pilgrims had relied on God and trusted him through many adversities.
If the story is not to be forgotten, it is today's Christian parents who must pass it on.
This year, make sure your celebration of Thanksgiving includes this portrait of God's hand in history bringing people together to accomplish specific purposes - as well as the lesson of 1Thessalonian 5:18:
Be joyful always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances.
Read entire article here.
Art Note: The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth by Jennie Brownscombe, 1914.
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