Do you remember studying about Thanksgiving while attending Elementary School? I very well remember reading the books in the classroom about Thanksgiving and listening to the teachers describe the first Thanksgiving in America. It was a beautiful story. The Pilgrims had made it in the New World and had sat down to a bountiful Thanksgiving Dinner. Their guests were a tribe of Indians. According to the stories

it was a wonderful celebration with plenty to eat and great fellowship.

History does not bear out the facts of the first Thanksgiving that people my age were taught. A review of the facts shows a very bleak first Thanksgiving in America. One hundred two Pilgrims stepped from their storm-tossed little ship, the Mayflower, with unsteady legs and a sigh of relief. According to Bill Bryson in his book Made in America it would be difficult to find a group of people so ill prepared to live in the wilderness than those who traveled on the Mayflower. The things the people packed to bring with them would lead us to believe that they did not have a clue as to the purpose of their trip. Sundials, candle snuffers, a drum, and a complete history of the country of Turkey were some of the items packed . One man packed 126 pairs of shoes and thirteen pairs of boots. However, they brought no livestock, no fishing or plow lines or anything else to be used in the wilderness. Among the professions represented on the Mayflower were two tailors, a printer, several merchants, a shop keeper and a hatter. The Pilgrims were ill prepared for what was ahead of them. By April when the Mayflower set sail back to England, just 54 people, half of them children were left to form a self-sustaining colony. The others who came died. The winter was harsh with freezing rain, sleet and snow.

With the help of the Native Americans things began to improve in the spring. The Indians taught the Pilgrims how to tap the Maple Tree for sap used to make syrup. They showed them good plants that could be eaten and plants that were harmful. The Indians taught the Pilgrims how to plant Indian Corn, including placing a fish under each hill for fertilizer. The crops were good and food was stored for the winter. Governor William Bradford proclaimed a Day of Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims and their Indian friends enjoyed a meal together. To be sure it was not like our Thanksgiving feast today but it was a special day to thank God for seeing them through.

George Washington signed the first Proclamation on November 26, 1789 declaring a day of Thanksgiving. In 1941 Congress set the fourth Thursday of November of each year as a day of Thanks. Presidents since that time have signed a declaration of a day of Thanksgiving. George W. Bush issued the proclamation on the 21 day of November, 2008 declaring Thursday, November 27 as a day of Thanksgiving.

I have read some remarks recently that implied that Americans do not have much to be thankful for this year. While it is true that our country has and is experiencing some very difficult financial hardships I would beg to differ with anyone who thinks we have nothing for which to be thankful. In my opinion we live in the greatest nation on earth thanks to those early Pilgrims who paved the way for us. We live in the land of the free thanks to those Revolutionary Patriots who defeated the English even though the odds were against them. I am thankful for the Bill of Rights in our Constitution that gives each of us rights of liberty and freedom. I am thankful that we as America choose our leaders at the ballot box instead of at the end of guns. I am happy for the goods this country produces including the food we put on the table. The list of things we should be thankful for is unlimited if we would just open our eyes and ears and look around.

According to a recent Gallop Poll 90% of Americans will go to Thanksgiving Dinner and never utter a word of thanks to God. Most of us teach our children to say "thank you" when someone gives them something. Why cannot we do the same for the things God has given us? A man whose wife had just left him felt there was nothing left of his life. He was a bitter and broken man. He was having breakfast alone in a restaurant filled with mostly people who looked bitter and unhappy. A little girl and her mother were having breakfast in the restaurant. When their food arrived the little girl in a loud voice said, "Mommy why can't we say our prayer here?" The waitress said "Honey you can pray in here. Would you say the prayer for us"? Things got quiet and the little girl in a loud voice said, "God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for this food. Amen." People began to talk to each other. The man whose wife had left said he felt like a new person. The waitress commented that maybe the prayer should be said everyday.

As we gather together to eat with our families this Thanksgiving don't forget to thank God. "God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food," will be just fine.

I wish for each of you a very happy Thanksgiving.



Billy McCord is a retired school administrator and an Elder in the United Methodist Church. He is Pastor of Shady Grove UM Church in Calhoun County and is President of the Calhoun County School Board and the Bruce Chamber of Commerce. Contact him at P.O. Box 337, Bruce, MS or billymc@tycom.net . Visit his blog site at http://billymccord.wordpress.com/