Is anyone else an atheist with BC besides me?
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As we don't have Thanksgiving here, do you ladies mind if I ask you...................Who do you give thanks to, on thanks giving day?
It seems to me that it would is a tradition steeped in religion, so do you offer thanks to Mother Nature instead?
Just curious,
Sheila.
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I personally contacted and thanked my physicians for what they've done. My loved ones for being in my life. DH for who he is. I've at different times called and thanked my parents for different things, the work ethic they instilled in me, the way they taught me to analyze and think and to love to read. I'm sure that sounds selfish, or self centered, but, reading and thinking about things, talking over different viewpoints with DH, is something that brings me much joy, and I'm thankful my parents instilled something in me that gives me a lot of pleasure in life. I've contacted teachers and thanked them for the start they gave me in life. Last year I thanked my colleagues for helping me out so much the previous year. (good thing I did it a year ago when I meant it because I wouldn't have every said it this year, yet, I shouldn't lose track of what they did do for me a couple of years back)
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I haven't been here in awhile and just wanted to stop in and say hello. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! For me, it's more about being able to spend a leisurely day with family and friends and appreciating the little things. I try every day to think of things I'm grateful for (sometimes unsuccessfully if I'm having a bad day!), so I'm kind of in the habit of consciously being thankful everyday anyway. I don't really need a special day to do it, but that's just me! I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the holiday weekend!
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We give thanks to be alive and to live in a place that invites and sustains life...
Two of my relatives were at the first Thanksgiving..two of the survivors of the
first year after they arrived here in the Mayflower in 1620..only half of them
survived...my particular relatives were adventurers rather than Pilgrims.
I think they were
thankful for much the same things...
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I say my gratefuls at night before I go to sleep. I just throw them out into the universe.
We're celebrating Thanksgiving today .. because Tim is finally home. He's got the turkey in the oven and the pies and stuffing are made. I love Thanksgiving .. it's my favorite holiday!
Hope everyone has a great day today
love,Bren
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There was an interesting debate last night in Toronto between Tony Blair and Christopher Hitchens on "is religion a force for good in the world?"
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I always thought Thanksgiving was for the harvest. Never saw it as religious at all. Good question Maya2. I am in Canada and we have our's in October.
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Its truthfully always been easier to imagine getting together after a harvest and celebrating in Oct than the end of November. November is pretty darn cold
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Bren, me too...my son and DIL are arriving this afternoon, turkey in oven
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We thank all of the people who work to make Thanksgiving possible including the people who grow the food, transport it to the stores, prepare it. We thank the plants and animals who make up the dinner. We think about the people who came before us and will come after us. It is a lovely day.
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Lisa, that is SO cool that your ancestors were present at the very first Thanksgiving! And to have your family tree traced back so far, that is truly remarkable.
Thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday for a very long time. I think I like it best because it revolves around food and there's no fru fru decorating that is expected. Later on in my adult life, I kept a gratitute journal after reading Sarah Breathnach's book Simple Abundance. ...or maybe her other book Something More. I don't keep a written journal of it anymore, but I practice gratitude every day throughout the day.
I celebrated Thanksgiving this year by making a very special meal. For as long as I can remember, my mom would always say the same thing when asked what she wants for a special meal. "I want pheasant under glass!" It's been a family joke for decades now. I did some digging to see what is actually involved with preparing pheasant under glass. I expected it would be ridiculously complex, but in actual fact, it looked totally doable. I told my brother who would be visiting if he would buy the birds, I'd prepare the meal.
I found the recipe, collected all the ingredients, studied the recipe over and over. At the moment of truth, the birds were attractively golden, the sauce of brandy, wine and cream was delectibly aromatic. My mom's face lit up the moment she saw it coming. She knew exactly what was under the large glass dome which released the fragrance of the delicacies for everyone to inhale with delight. The presentation lived up to the decades of spin that my mom had placed on this dish.
I heaved a sigh of relief when I took the first bite and tasted exceptional deliciousness. Best of all was having the opportunity and the means to create such a memorable family experience. I feel like it was a super special gift for my mom, and for that I am thankful. I'm thankful I had the energy to prepare the meal. Even six months ago, this level of effort would've made me fizzle in a big way. I got to the end of the day and still felt good. I felt good the next day too. I say lots of thank you's every day, and that day even more.
I usually tend to look skyward when I say these thanks. Habit, mostly, and ultimately I do believe there must some sort of superior something out there. But just last month I attended a meeting of the local bc support group that helped me so much during my treatments, and boy howdy, I felt like such an outsider. They're heavy into a lengthy prayer at the end, and holy this and God's will that all throughout. Made me want to crawl outta my skin! I feel way more comfortable here with all y'all nonbelievers! Makes me feel grateful. big hugs everyone.
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althea, that is just simply awesome! Your Thanksgiving put a smile on my face and I wasn't even there!
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Ditto ditto ditto! I especially loved your story, althea, because we had the same expression in my family. But unlike you, I've never so much as imagined actually preparing it.
L
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althea, that is such a cool thing. Taking control and creating a great family memory all wrapped up in one
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Wonderful Thanksgiving story Althea, I think your approach truly is what Thanksgiving is all about.
SoCalLisa..... we could be cousins!!! You didn't say which Plymouth resident was your ancestor, my dad's family descended from Richard Warren who was a Mayflower passenger and signer of the Mayflower Compact. I've read that more American's descended through the Warren's than other pilgrims because they were a large family; all survived those first few years and went on to have large families.
In his book "The Mayflower" Nathaniel Philbrick gives an interesting take on the first Thanksgiving. He surmises that it most likely was celebrated earlier in the Fall, at the end of the harvest, not in November. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in early American History.
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Goodness! My very distant ancestor is the notorious Richard Warren too! My cousin was into getting us all in the Mayflower Society, but I declined. I *know* I am much more closely related to some bank thieves and horse robbers in the late 1800s. (They would write home to Mom saying 'all is well', while writing to their sibs begging for money.)
Whew - glad we don't have to go to prison for the sins of our ancestors.
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Great story Althea!
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Leaf... Small world! We might just be cousins too! My aunt looked into the Mayflower Society, I don't know if she's actually pursued it, it's not really my thing either. I do love the history though.
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My grandmother was a burlesque dancer and my grandfather "won" her in a bowling game. Does that count for something? Hahahahaha.
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My Mayflower people were Stephen Hopkins and his daughter Constance..both
sailed and survived...I did not join the Mayflower Society, because here, they are
a very religious group..but I did join the DAR and Colonial Dames of the XVII Century
we have fun in the last group here in San Diego...
Who knows though we could be related because the number of people living there
was not huge, lol...so somebody had to marry etc....
I think enjoyful's grandma sounds like a winner to me!!
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LOL enjoyful! Sounds like a "happily ever after" story.
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My maternal great grandmother is a 'skeleton in the cupboard' because she left her husband and 'lived in sin' with another man in the late 1890's. She was a self taught pianist and used to spend all her evenings playing piano as entertainement or for dancing in clubs or dance halls rather than being at home looking after her hubby and child (which was bad enough) and then she found another lovely man somewhere and just left. I think she sounds like a woman born out of her time and was obviously someone who was going to enjoy her life despite strict Victorian society rules. Would love to have met her, I think we would have got along like a house on fire.
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enjoyful, I love that story
raeinnz, she does sound like a woman before her time, 1890's, wow, I can't imagine the societal pressure on her
Thought this was appropriate for here, okay, I'm not religious and I'd be afraid to post this. (Apparently the guy playing defense prayed harder):
http://www.sportsrageous.com/steve-johnson-blames-god-for-missing-touchdown-catch-11-29-2010
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kmmd .. I read that article about Johnson earlier today. It cracked me up! I was watching that game and saw him drop the ball. I'm pretty sure god wasn't watching the game or making him mess up!
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Gee, God does come in handy sometimes! But, t'was ever thus. The Romans, the Greeks, just about any culture had to have an "omnipotent" being or beings to blame for one's ills or failings, or bad weather and crops ruined, or the stock market crashing, or, or, or....(you fill in the blanks).
Enjoyful -- now I know from whom you inherited your lovely long showgirl legs! And Rae, your GGM was a feminist before the term was ever invented! (Okay, she didn't stick with husband and child, but maybe there actually was a darn good reason). Just think of all the mistresses of kings who first looked out for themselves, rather than being subjected to the whims and demands of a husband -- the master. Hard to imagine how life once was for females the world over (and still is, for far too many). I get so upset when I hear horrendous cases of female genital mutilation, for example.
I'm a Libra, and fair is fair! Balance is everything.
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I am so loving these stories. Raeinnz, yours sounds to me like an Alice Munro story (a writer I love). I'm not sure why: I guess it's the idea of women growing up in narrow circumstances and rebelling (or not) and paying the price. Of course, if it were by Munro, it would have to be set in rural Ontario.
My story is tame in comparison to Rae's and enjoyful's. My maternal grandparents married very young - my grandmother was 16 when she had my mother, my grandfather 19 - and they didn't talk very much about their courtship. I did know that my grandmother's mother essentially abandoned her, and she was raised by someone else - an aunt, I think. And that my grandfather's parents were progressives (well, as progressive as one could be in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the 1920s and 1930s) . . . big fans of "Fighting Bob" Lafollette . . . and maintained a somewhat chaotic household.
They never made a big deal about their wedding anniversary, and eventually I figured out why: my grandmother must have been six months pregnant when they got married.
L
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Love, love, LOVE all these stories! I also feel like I try to be grateful for all I have every day but Thanksgiving is a day where I think about it all more. No higher power involved. I'm just grateful.
My maternal grandma's parents divorced when she was a baby (around 1915) and they put all their kids in an orphanage. Then they remarried and had more children, but never went back to collect the kids they left in the orphanage. Can you imagine?
--CindyMN
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hmm and we think all these issues are new to our generation!? Maybe its just about living as well as one can and trying to balance needs of others with our own. Love hearing family stories, history, a glimpse into the past.
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I do, too! I wish I had some Pilgrims in my history, but I'm stuck with Grandma the Burlesque Queen on my dad's side and Babe Ruth and Black Jack Pershing on my mom's side. Interesting, but not Pilgrim interesting!
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The priest at my sister's church gave a sermon based on the epistles of Paul that said that women must be submissive in all ways to her husband. For the deeply religious, things haven't changed since the stone age.
My sister thinks submission is a load of manure.
Lectures like this are actually weakening her faith in the church. 0
