tradition

  It being Thanksgiving I am reminded of tradition. Well it is a traditional holiday isn't it? Much has been made of the traditions associated with this. We still hear talk about the Pilgrims but the guests have changed into Native Americans, no longer Indians. The account of the whole affair has changed somewhat over the last four hundred years. That's to be expected. Now when we are told of the first Thanksgiving it is pointed out that they probably didn't eat Turkey and probably no pumpkin pie. The real story now tells of a week long visit by the Indians, er Native Americans, that involved many games, smoking peace pipes, and just eating everything in sight. When the Native Americans left, the Pilgrims were Thankful for that. But we mostly still cling to the tradition of having a Turkey with all the trimmings and our families gathered together. A national holiday of thanks. Just who are we thanking though? We are thanking what the founding fathers called, Divine Providence. Divine providence is the action taken on our behalf by a benevolent entity that goes by many names. God is the most common expression used. In our tradition, God refers to the God of the Bible, a Judeo-Christian God. The same God we are one nation under. hence the Thanksgiving tradition. It became official in 1789 when George Washington proclaimed it so. 

 This Thanksgiving will be celebrated a little differently due to the virus, and government restrictions. Our health care officials have warned us all of the dangers of congregating. The government has gone a step beyond that with the issuing of mandates. In the state of Maryland the State Police have been deployed to enforce those restrictions. I haven't heard of any penalties associated with a violation of those mandates but I expect a monetary fine would be it. After all, you can't be placed in custody because you would then to exposed to the virus! It's a catch 22 situation. All of that can be viewed in two ways, either it is prudent and proper to issue those mandates or it is an infringement on my freedom. Does the government have an obligation beyond providing all the pertinent information, warnings and advice to impose restrictions on my freedom to choose? It's a difficult question to answer. I wonder what the writers of the Constitution would have to say about that. 

 But in thinking about tradition this thought came to mind. How many of us allow tradition to dictate the holiday? What I mean is, if we can not celebrate the holiday the way we traditionally do, we allow it to ruin the holiday? This applies to all holidays, I'm not just thinking about Thanksgiving this year. What if you are unable to put up your Christmas tree or other holiday decorations? No parades or big New Years bash? Will the lack of any of that, ruin the holiday? I have experienced all of that at one time or another in my 67 years. Was the holiday ruined? No, it was not, at least for me it wasn't. It was just different. Perhaps not quite as festive, not as exciting, but in a way more meaningful. It does give you a chance to reflect, remember and review the past and all the blessings you have enjoyed. Yeah, it's not as exciting. Ruined? No I don't think so. I do think we have become a society of expectations though. Yes, we call them holidays, occasions to celebrate. We do expect certain things to happen depending on that tradition. When we fail to get what we expect, we will be disappointed. The only difference between us will be how we deal with disappointment. Do you sink into despair like sitting in your favorite easy chair? Or do you, make the best of it, and continue on. Today especially, should we be less thankful? Even when everything doesn't go the way we wish it had, or isn't going the way we would like it to, we should remain thankful. Just remember who you are thanking. The majority of us thank whatever God  we have learned to do so through tradition. The God of our parents and grandparents. Some of us will adopt a new tradition based on our personal needs, and some will abandon tradition altogether. It is the establishment of tradition that forms the soul of a nation. 

 The following is an excerpt from George Washington's proclamation:

   Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and—Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

As with all politicians he had a great deal more to say, mostly repeating what he already said.

Happy Thanksgiving.