Reflections on Thanksgiving Day

On Thursday November 23, we pause in our daily endeavors to celebrate Thanksgiving Day to give thanks for all the benefits we have received throughout the year. On this day we are reminded that we live in one of the most blessed and most bountiful times ever. We enjoy good health, family, children, friends, employment, freedom of expression, beautiful islands, and many more things that give us reasons for expressing thanks.

In the United States, Thanksgiving Day was first celebrated in 1621, in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The early settlers of the area being religious set aside three days to thank God for the new found land with its benefits. They invited Indians who had befriended them to join in. Therefore on Thursday November 23, we reach across several centuries to join hands with them to express our gratitude also. We too will offer a prayer of thanks to God for an abundance of food and other goods that make our life gratifying.