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Thanksgiving?

© Valerie Ringrose

Thanksgiving?

Today is Thanksgiving in Canada. At least it is on the calendar. In the minds of Canadians, however, the Thanksgiving of yesteryears is strangely missing. Today is also the day our war against terrorism, our war for world peace began.

The meaning of Thanksgiving has all but been lost in our spinning minds. What is the meaning of Thanksgiving, asks a teacher of her students? A long pause ensues and faces filled with fear and apprehension gape back at the teacher. What is the meaning of Thanksgiving, she asks again.

“Giving thanks to God?” quips one child.

“Close”, says the teacher, rather generously in fact.

Outside it is hailing and the weather is blistery cold. The radio has more special news reports than it has music. Well, what is the meaning of Thanksgiving, anyway? The kids obviously don’t know. All they know is that it is a holiday where, if they are from anything but the poorest families, they will enjoy a big feast and see their family members. They’ll all enjoy the day, but will not know where this cultural event comes from. For them Thanksgiving is a word synonymous with turkey.

It is no better in the United States. Even encyclopedias remark that this day is the mark of the Christmas shopping season.

Thanksgiving is generally a day where we should give thanks for all the goodness of the past season. It began in Canada with Samuel de Champlain’s Order of Good Cheer. This was a huge celebration of the harvests and the food and was spent with the natives in the 1600s. Earlier and similar celebrations had occurred in Newfoundland somewhat earlier. Surprisingly, the first official Canadian Thanksgiving was held in 1872 to celebrate King Edward the seventh’s recovery from illness. Later Thanksgiving came to be held on several different days before it ended up in early October. It wasn’t until 1957 that parliament declared that Thanksgiving would occur on the second Monday of October. It was said to be"a day of general Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.”

And now the war. It has made Thanksgiving a rather somber affair. It has further hidden the meaning of Thanksgiving. Can we really celebrate something that we feel does not exist? I still believe that there is much to celebrate in Canada.

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