What Thanksgiving Is Really All About

This week we celebrate the first of the three major holidays in Thanksgiving. So many traditions have come from this holiday. The most common one is the turkey.

Along with the turkey comes the mashed potatoes and gravy, yams, cranberries, yams, and of course Pumpkin Pie.

Another tradition that has become synonymous with Thanksgiving is the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade. That precedes my favorite Thanksgiving tradition.

Every year the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys treat football fans with an extra day of football for fans. Then Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving wraps up most of the college football season as traditional rivals such as Michigan-Ohio State,  Florida-Florida State, USC-Notre Dame, Alabama-Auburn, etc. are matched up on Thanksgiving weekend. Then there is more NFL action on Sunday. It is a whole weekend of football.

Finally, there is my least favorite Thanksgiving tradition. That is Black Friday.

It is a crazy day at malls and department stores where the deals on electronics and other items can be bought  at a really low price. People camp out over night. I dislike it because I don't feel the line is worth the wait and I usually get stuck working security.

As great as all these traditions are, it is important to never forget what this day is really all about. It is the memory of how our great country began. Christians in England were being persecuted for their religious beliefs. To avoid that any further, they made a pilgrimage to the new world. They became known as Pilgrims.

When they arrived on the Mayflower, the pilgrims had no idea how to live off the new land that they landed on. It was the native Americans who really saved them and taught them how to hunt, fish, and grow crops. Thanksgiving was a day that was created as a way to give thanks not only to the Native Americans but also to God for giving them a new beginning in a new home.

There was a feast every year. While wild turkey was one bird served, there were also duck, goose, and chicken. Deer and fish were also commonly eaten on Thanksgiving. Every year they gave thanks to God. Those who settled in these new colonies lived by very strong Christian values. They lived by that all the way through the Revolutionary War and ultimately wrote the Constitution that was based on biblical principles.

This nation was in every way intended to be a Christian nation, contrary to what Mr. Obama or any other liberal/history revisionist wants to tell you.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!