S T O R I E S

As a young boy growing up in a rural area and attending a small school, a special time of year came right before Thanksgiving.

At our little school, we had an old paper scroll that someone made maybe sometime back in the 1920's.

Held together by what appeared to be broom handles,  this scroll unrolled scenes that depicted the meaning of Thanksgiving. Scenes of Pilgrims coming off the ships, meeting America’s natives, and setting down together at a table laden with turkey, pies, potatoes and such.

Our teacher taught us about  meaning of Thanksgiving, explaining the  great hardships the Pilgrims faced, endured and worked through.

That’s probably where my deep appreciation of Native Americans began, for I remember how grateful I was (Still am.)  to the Native Americans who helped my ancestors learn how to grow corn and other agricultural practices to get them through those first few tough winters.

Sometimes the Pilgrims had very few corn kernels left, to live on and replant the following spring.

Our ancestors made great sacrifices and fought hard to build a government by the people - for the people and independent of dictatorships whether by religious, political or royalty beliefs.

We were told our forefathers assembled a United States Constitution, that was so evergreen it protected and held our freedoms to acquire property and allowed us to speak plainly.

Obviously, this holistic approach to education took  place in those days when it was assumed that when given all information on a subject, we were smart enough to make good choices. 

Thanksgiving leftovers... the last slice of pumpkin pie and crunchy remnants of stuffing were savored before we were moved into learning about before Christmas, and told about a man named Jesus Christ, and that Christmas was when we celebrated his birthday.  Everyone visited freely about this person, and shared his many good teachings.

Now where am I going with all this?  Guess maybe it’s a request.  A request to any business that starts marketing goods because of Christmas...before Thanksgiving is over, to “please stop that.”

Hearing Christmas music and seeing “You must get little Johnny a new cell phone for Christmas” ads on TV  before we’ve unfurled the paper scroll and heard the last word of the Thanksgiving prayer seems a little like getting the cart before the horse. 

Does today’s Christmas serve only as a marketing tool to make that once a year big money hit? Then the rest of the year we fight over where we should put it?

Both Thanksgiving and Christmas are uniquely individual.  I ask only that we be given the opportunity to celebrate them independent of one another, and to “please stop” the overlapping.

We don’t overlap Labor Day with the 4th of July, Halloween with Easter, or Hanukkah with Valentines and I see no need to do such with Thanksgiving and Christmas. Do you?
 
 
Charles W. Sylvester

Roni,
This must have been in some other country of foreign origin, as it is not what is going on in my country today.

Where I am at, daily I see on TVs overly emotional zealots practically screaming at us while condemning us for eating turkeys and how we should be spending our funds to buy them alive so they can live out their lives on "rescue" farms. I see news articles about the school board in Seattle demanding the children how this is a day of mourning for the "horrible" treatment and theft of lands from the aboriginal occupants of the land when the "anglo invaders" brought disease and death. I get e-mails about Texas university staff and professors spending taxpayer monies to promote illegal occupants (law breakers) "rights" to be here free of charge.

Daily the liberal politicians in Washinton D.C. are attempting to pass laws to destroy any vestige of the original intents of the "Republic for which it used to stand, one nation without God, without liberty or justice for any but themselves". Even San Francisco is passing illegal rights bills and handing out identification cards to law breakers that will give them special privileges the legal citizens cannot acquire under the same laws.

And they all decry "discrimination" and "doing away with tyranny" all the while with their hands out for re-election, donations, more taxes and "equal rights".

Excuse me, in what country did you say this Thanksgiving was being held? I'd like to move there and participate in such a celebration.

Sincerely,

Ric Frost