Days of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving isn’t simply a holiday celebrating the triumph of the Pilgrims. Around the world, it’s celebrated as a holiday in which people give thanks and sacrifice for the bountiful harvests they accumulated during the fall. The United States, Brazil, Canada, Grenada, Liberia, and parts of Australia and the Netherlands all celebrate a holiday called “Thanksgiving”, while Germany, Britain, and Japan celebrate similarly named festival holidays. These Thanksgiving holidays have similar characteristics – a great feast, prayers of thanks given for a bountiful year, and parades – though there are variations. For instance, Germany’s Ertedankfest does not have feasts quite as large, and Liberia’s Thanksgiving tradition is rooted in its founding. But the “Thanksgiving” these countries celebrate has much deeper, more ancient roots.

Gratitude is a universal human emotion, so it’s no surprise that a variety of cultures and religions all around the world would have a holiday dedicated to giving thanks. In ancient times, the harvest was especially a huge deal. Most people back then were farmers who lived through subsistence farming. The fall harvest was invaluable for staying alive during the barren winter. The success of a good harvest could make or break a community. Therefore, people celebrated bountiful harvests with harvest festivals.

Harvest festivals have been around since ancient times and happen all over the world, and they form the basis for modern Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving celebrations in Britain, the United States, and Canada can be traced back to pagan England. Japanese Labor Thanksgiving Day, though officially established post-WWII by the American occupation government, has its roots in Niiname-no-Matsuri, an ancient Shinto harvest ceremony. Granted, these harvest festivals were usually celebrated much earlier than modern Thanksgivings – in England, the autumn equinox (September 22 or 23) was when it was celebrated. Nevertheless, the continuity between Thanksgiving and these previous holidays cannot be denied.

Besides gratitude, another theme common to harvest festivals around the world is the idea of freedom. After the harvest comes in, the peasants no longer had to work in the fields, and, if the harvest was successful, they didn’t have to worry about running out of food either. With ample food and the necessity of having to work in the fields gone, farmers could afford to relax and have fun. Feasts, merriment, music, contests, music, and romance are common features of harvest festivals around the world for this very reason.

Religion is often an important part of these harvest festivals. In English-speaking countries, churchgoers bring produce from their gardens to their local church to distribute it among the poor. The English Reformation cut down on the number of Church holidays compared to the Catholic calendar but kept these days of thanksgiving to celebrate events that the Puritans viewed as acts of special providence.

I’ve often taken part in the religious side of Thanksgiving. In the past, I’ve participated in religious and non-religious charitable works during Thanksgiving. One year, I worked for a charity dinner to feed the poor. And many times, I’ve helped deliver Thanksgiving dinners to lonely senior citizens living in downtown Houston. These were probably the best parts about Thanksgiving for me. I felt then that I was giving back to the community when that happened.

Ultimately, Thanksgiving is about community. It’s about coming together and seeing the smiles on the people around you. I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!