Posted by:
Nightingale
(
)
Date: October 07, 2018 03:33PM
Here in Western Canada, the trees are red, gold, green. Rain holds off. Skies white with occasional sunny bursts. Turkey, potatoes, corn on the cob, carrots, peas and sage stuffing await our tender ministrations. Pumpkin pie with whipped cream stands by to crown the evening meal.
No church. Instead a good long lie-in, well-deserved by all the hard-working crew amongst us. I don't know if Canadian Mormons observe any special LDS-centred themes today that are different from other bland Mormon Sundays. Thankfully, I no longer attend the US-centric church (no offence) that demands so much and returns so little.
We hear about American Thanksgiving annually at RfM. Here's a little background on the Canadian version from the online Canadian Encyclopedia:
“The first official annual Thanksgiving in Canada was celebrated on 6 November 1879, though Indigenous peoples in Canada have a history of celebrating the fall harvest that predates the arrival of European settlers. Sir Martin Frobisher and his crew are credited as the first Europeans to celebrate a Thanksgiving ceremony in North America, in 1578. They were followed by the inhabitants of New France under Samuel de Champlain in 1606. The celebration featuring the uniquely North American turkey, squash and pumpkin was introduced to Nova Scotia in the 1750s and became common across Canada by the 1870s. In 1957, Thanksgiving was proclaimed an annual event to occur on the second Monday of October.
…
“Indigenous peoples in North America have a history of holding communal feasts in celebration of the fall harvest that predates the arrival of European settlers. The Smithsonian Institute has noted that some First Nations “sought to insure a good harvest with dances and rituals.” The European settlers brought with them a similar tradition of harvest celebrations (for which the symbol was the cornucopia, or horn of plenty), which dates back to European peasant societies.
…
“The first national Thanksgiving in Canada was … organized at the behest of leaders of the Protestant clergy, who appropriated the holiday of American Thanksgiving, which was first observed in 1777 and established as a national day of “public thanksgiving and prayer” in 1789. In Canada, the holiday was intended for the “public and solemn” recognition of God’s mercies. As historian Peter Stevens has noted, some citizens “objected to this government request, saying it blurred the distinction between church and state that was so important to many Canadians.”
“ … they ate a meal of salt beef, biscuits and mushy peas to celebrate and give thanks for their safe arrival in Newfoundland. They celebrated Communion and formally expressed their thanks through the ship’s Chaplain, Robert Wolfall, who, according to explorer Richard Collinson, “made unto them a godly sermon, exhorting them especially to be thankefull to God for theyr strange and miraculous deliverance in those so dangerous places [sic].”
… “This was 17 years before what is often recognized as the first American Thanksgiving — the Pilgrims’ celebration of their first harvest in Massachusetts in 1621 (which was actually predated by several similar events in the New England colonies by at least 14 years). The prototypical Thanksgiving feast featuring the uniquely North American turkey, squash and pumpkin was introduced to Nova Scotia in the 1750s. The citizens of Halifax commemorated the end of the Seven Years’ War in 1763 with a day of Thanksgiving, and Loyalists subsequently brought the celebration to other parts of the country.
…
“The first Thanksgiving after Confederation (on 5 April 1872) … was a national civic holiday rather than a religious one, it was held to celebrate the recovery of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) from an illness. Thanksgiving was first observed as an annual event in Canada on 6 November 1879. The date for each of the following years, as well as a unifying theme for which to give thanks (usually concerning the harvest, though anniversaries related to the British monarchy were also common), was determined annually by Parliament. The holiday occurred as late in the year as 6 December and even coincided several times with American Thanksgiving. The most popular date to observe Thanksgiving was the third Monday in October, when the fall weather is generally still amenable to outdoor activities.
“Beginning in 1921, Thanksgiving and Armistice Day (introduced in 1919) were celebrated on the same day — the first Monday in the week of 11 November. In order to give more recognition to veterans, 11 November was set solely as Remembrance Day in 1931. Thanksgiving was again proclaimed annually and typically observed on the second Monday in October. It was not until 31 January 1957 that Parliament proclaimed the observance of the second Monday in October as “a day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.” E.C. Drury, the former "Farmer-Premier" of Ontario, lamented later that “the farmers’ own holiday has been stolen by the towns” to give them a long weekend when the weather was better.
“Some have argued that the ceremony of giving thanks celebrated by Sir Martin Frobisher was not a “real” Thanksgiving. The argument stems from the reason for giving thanks; that the holiday can only be associated with the celebration of the harvest. Europeans who brought the tradition to North America did mark the day by giving thanks for a successful harvest. However, the Canadian and American holidays are no longer restricted to harvest activities, and have become a day for gathering family to give thanks for their general well-being. In that sense, one might observe that the tradition has come full circle.”
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/thanksgiving-dayWe don't think much about all that. Just enjoy the bountiful meal, visits with family, and whichever ice hockey game may be on tonight. If none, I will happily spend time with Poldark, a UK series about ye merry olde. The main actor in particular is a beautiful human being. Hope it's not too politically incorrect to say.
All in all, spectacular Sunday.
For which we give thanks. However we feel so inclined.
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/2018 03:51PM by Nightingale.