Happy Thanksgiving America!

Here are some pictures from the White House of turkeys being pardoned. This tradition seems to have begun with President Truman.

And some turkeys don't wait for a Presidential pardon but take matters into their own hands! Here is a home movie about one who did!

The Thanksgiving story is one of America's founding legends. Perhaps not all the mythology about the first Thanksgiving is historically true, but the values that the Thanksgiving story celebrates and enshrines are dear to most Americans.

I once read that Thanksgiving as we now celebrate it was promoted by the government as both a civic and religious holiday during the Great Depression to encourage the American people.

The story of how the Pilgrim colonists survived even more difficult times and how the Pilgrims and their Indian neighbors sat down to dinner together was meant to give Americans encouragement and faith in our future during the Depression. The story celebrates the value of coming together in spite of difficult times and great diversity. Thanksgiving celebrates faith and courage.

Here is a site that provides some historical information about the history of Thanksgiving in the Americas.

The History Channel is showing a movie called Desperate Crossing about the journey of the Pilgrims. Here is a short video clip about that film. The film is being shown on Sunday, November 19, and again on Thanksgiving, November 23. The History Channel also has a Thanksgiving site here.

I plan to post a number of encouraging perspectives on our holiday.

This year, my niece, whose ancestors have been in the Americas for 1000s of years, will be serving the family Thanksgiving dinner in her new home.

Some people want to disparage the Thanksgiving myth, but most of us will be encouraged our families and by our fellow Americans as we sit down to our dinners all over our land in spite of our different ethnic and religious heritages.

Our America is truly a big Thanksgiving table that welcomes everyone! That is no myth. That is today's great, if not always perfect, America!