Yesterday was our day of Thanksgiving and we have so much to be thankful for. Our bounty is enormous compared to that of most people in the world today. So much so, that it has changed the way that we look and live.
When the original colony of Plymouth was founded in 1620, there were 102 pilgrims who made the voyage and who began, in December 1620, to try to create a settlement. By October 1621 when the first “harvest festival” occurred, 49 of the Pilgrims had died and most of them in the first few months.
That first celebration lasted three days and featured a feast that included numerous types of waterfowl, wild turkeys and fish procured by the colonists, and five deer brought by the 90 Native Americans who joined the Pilgrims.
The Pilgrims did recognize a celebration known as a “Thanksgiving”, which was a solemn ceremony of praise and thanks to God for a congregation’s good fortune. The first such Thanksgiving as the Pilgrims would have called it did not occur until 1623, in response to the good news of the arrival of additional colonists and supplies. That event probably occurred in July and consisted of a full day of prayer and worship and probably very little revelry.
Although we call yesterday Thanksgiving, it truly is more of a fall festival to many people. What should not be lost are the sacrifices that the early settlers made and the blessings that have come to us from their faith.
We as Team Beachbody coaches hope that you all had a safe and joyous day yesterday and that you paused for a moment to give thanks for the struggles and sacrifices of our forefathers so that we could have so much to be thankful for today.
To learn more about the lives of the early Pilgrims, please to to Wikipedia
