This season marks the time when millions of Americans turn their attention to Thanksgiving Day, often called Turkey Day in modern terms, celebrated with traditional turkey dinners, delightful side dishes, pumpkin pie, and football games. People embrace this autumnal holiday for diverse reasons: some reflect deeply on their personal circumstances and America's global standing, seeking genuine reasons for thankfulness, while others view it as just another festive occasion. Football enthusiasts eagerly anticipate televised games and casual backyard matches, and for shopaholics, it signals the eve of Black Friday, kicking off the final shopping sprint before Christmas. The inaugural American Thanksgiving occurred in 1621 at Plymouth Colony, in present-day Massachusetts. Following their arrival in November 1620, the Pilgrims endured a brutal first winter marked by scarce food, rudimentary shelters, and rampant illness, resulting in the loss of about half their number. The following year, after a bountiful harvest, the Pilgrims expressed profound gratitude to God for the assistance, guidance, and progress He bestowed upon their colony. In 1789, the first President of the United States, George Washington, issued a Thanksgiving Proclamation acknowledging the dominion God granted humanity over creation and the significant responsibility to cultivate righteous character and the potential for eternal life in His Kingdom, a thought meant to inspire daily thankfulness.

Thanksgiving Day in America, once established to give thanks to the Almighty God for His benevolent care and providence, has transformed into a commercialized event marking the start of the Christmas retail sales season with discounts up to 70 percent off regular prices. Many people now focus on coveting merchandise for themselves and as gifts, driven by a carnal mind rather than gratitude. On Thanksgiving Day, stores open early, and shoppers rush in, jostling each other to grab specially priced items, often without a thought of thanking God for His benefits throughout the year or even for the ability to purchase these goods. Their focus remains fixed on acquiring coveted items at the best price and returning home to a large feast, neglecting the gratitude that God deserves for His kindness to all humanity. Despite the enjoyment of more benefits, prosperity, and natural resources than much of the world, there is a prevailing unthankful attitude, marked by selfishness and pride, reflecting a moral and ethical decline.

Each year we celebrate Thanksgiving Day, and this once-noble occasion has suffered the effects of a social principle akin to entropy. Thanksgiving has devolved from a feast day of solemn gratitude to God for His beneficence and blessing into our modern Turkey Day. Reflection on God's providence and thankfulness for His bounty to us, our land, and our government have degraded to gluttony, football games, and planning one's strategy for the next day's Christmas shopping. In many people's minds, Thanksgiving has become just the opening day of the Christmas season. We call it a holiday, but for many, it has become a day of work, with nearly a third of all working Americans punching a time clock on Thanksgiving Day. Everything Americans do has become so commercialized that the nation cannot abide closing down stores and services for even one day. Yet, it was not long ago that finding anything open on this holiday was frequently a lost cause. This question must be asked: If Americans will not take the time to reflect on their blessings and express their gratitude on the one day of the year officially called 'Thanksgiving,' do they ever consider what they have and give thanks for it?

Both America and Canada celebrate a day of Thanksgiving each year in the fall. America's Thanksgiving Day occurs on the last Thursday of November, while Canada's is on the second Monday of October, often coinciding with the fall holy days. Sometimes, the Feast of Tabernacle's Eighth Day and Canada's Thanksgiving Day fall on the same date, sharing incredible similarities. It is proclaimed as a day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed. God's people can celebrate this day if it is kept in the proper spirit. However, for most, even Thanksgiving Days have lost their original meaning, becoming mere excuses for partying, reveling, and getting.

Some have questioned Christians keeping Thanksgiving due to concerns that it stemmed from paganism, suggesting that a member of God's church should not observe it. However, just because pagans in the past gave thanks to their idols, should we not be thankful for all that the great God has provided us? Should we not show gratitude for our liberties and the seemingly limitless bounty we have? The Thanksgiving Day we celebrate does not have a pagan origin, unlike other holidays. Our forefathers and a few of our presidents, guided by their study of God's Word, set aside a day each year to thank God for the many blessings He has bestowed on our people, which is good and right for any people. For those who understand where all blessings come from, this day should be a reminder to give effusive thanks for the many blessings that belong to us because of God's faithfulness to His promises to Abraham. It should also remind each of us to thank Him every day, not just one day a year, for our incredible calling and the innumerable things He does for us.

Thanksgiving Day is often regarded as the most American of holidays, yet its origins are not unique to America, with many traditions borrowed from other countries. American customs have shaped its character, though the attitude of observance has often degenerated into a mere parody of true thanksgiving. Historical records show that the Pilgrims' celebration in 1621, while significant as the first in America to combine religious service and feasting, was not the earliest thanksgiving in the Western hemisphere or even in the United States. Earlier observances occurred in Newfoundland in 1578 and in Maine in 1607, with several others in colonial Virginia between 1607 and 1620. The Pilgrims' event in 1621 stood out due to the unexpected participation of ninety Indians, who joined in a feast of turkey and venison, accompanied by war dances, military drills, and sports. Some traditions associated with Thanksgiving Day have roots in ancient pagan practices of Canaan, Greece, and Rome, which were idolatrous in nature. However, harvest festivals are not inherently opposed to God, as He commands the observance of Pentecost and Tabernacles, both harvest celebrations. Thanksgiving in America carries weak religious overtones and does not venerate specific individuals or form part of a salvation formula. Its focus on honoring God is general, leaving the specific manner of observance to individual choice, ranging from gluttonous feasting and sports to family reunions or entirely religious expressions. Though Thanksgiving in America often fails to honor God and becomes a hollow shell of its potential, it can be observed in its best-intended purpose. We can make it a true thanksgiving to God, enhanced by sharing a fine meal with family and friends, especially those of like spiritual mind, while keeping the God of creation, our Savior and Provider, ever in our thoughts.

Mark Schindler, focuses upon the Separatists who fled to Leyden in 1609, to escape persecution from the Anglican Church, which although broke away politically from the Roman Catholic Church, nevertheless retained some of the customs and teachings of Catholicism which the Pilgrims found repulsive. In order to preserve their cultural identity, the Pilgrims arranged for Passage to the New World aboard the Mayflower, establishing a colony called New England, based upon Christian self-government, making faith and dependence upon God the cornerstone of an emerging great nation, a nation George Washington and our forefathers realized could be sustained only by dependence upon Our Eternal God. Lest we forget, this event ( the Mayflower Compact) took place exactly 400 years ago, prompting two major religious leaders , Franklin Graham to lead a Day of Prayer in the nations capital and Jonathan Kahn to proclaim a Shuva- or return of the nation to God, (solemnly reading Hosea 14, Micah 7, and Joel 2) 40 days before the next election lest we forget our duty to Almighty God