Whether you’re in a part of the world that celebrates Thanksgiving or not, we want to say how grateful we are for you, our View from the Front Porch readers. Chicken Wrangler and I truly appreciate the time you take to leave your comments.
Thank you for hanging out with us these many years.
We’re recovering from our own overeating yesterday and have taken today off.
We’ve decided to reduce our stress this year and, in December, we will begin a countdown to the number one viewed blogs from Miller Farm Friday and the Front Porch in 2019. I think you’ll find which blog posts drew the most views interesting. We did.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that in order to achieve contentment, we should “cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously.”
Blogging about thankfulness and gratitude in November is cliché. But this is the time of year when we pause to focus our thoughts on being thankful.
Most of us will have a thankful attitude on Thanksgiving Day. Too often, though, our thankful attitude wanes for the rest of the year.
I’d like to suggest two ways to focus an attitude of thankfulness beyond one Thursday in November.
Use social media
Create posts, pictures, videos, and tweets that cultivate thankfulness on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Heaven knows we get enough of wars, earthquakes, floods, fires, sick children, murdered spouses and, lately, politics.
Henri Frédéric Amiel was a Swiss philosopher, poet, and critic. I love this quote because it clearly differentials the difference between thankfulness and gratitude.
Being thankful is the first step to gratitude. Expressing thankfulness in words leads to gratitude.
Something to think about as Thanksgiving approaches.
One of my greatest treasures is the collection of music books from my Aunt Keta. She was a music teacher and she worked for a music publishing company so she had many, many books. She actually gave a kindergarten music book to me on my first birthday.
I use it regularly in my classroom. One of the songs is called The Turkeys Run Away. We sing it every November and play the game.
This year when I explained how to play the game, I found myself saying “I will be the farmer and I will chase the turkeys.”
For a brief moment, I thought about the last time I chased a turkey. It had not ended so well – I fractured my ankle. I pushed that thought to the back of my mind and began to sing.
I am happy to report no teachers were harmed in the playing of this game.
Even Black Friday shopping will difficult. I do worry about all those people camped outside stores to be first in line for the extra savings items. It’s got to be cold and wet in their tents. Are the savings really worth all the effort and discomfort?
This year things are different than they were for that first Pilgrim Thanksgiving feast. What hasn’t change is the basis for Thanksgiving.
The celebration became an annual tradition with Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation of a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”
As early as 1607, the inhabitants in the Commonwealth of Virginia held Thanksgiving services. Celebrations rooted in their religious beliefs and to show gratitude to their Heavenly Father.
Pilgrims were Puritan Separatists. Their journey to America began with a desire to escape religious persecution under Elizabeth I and the Church of England or Anglican Church.
Personally, I believe being thankful shouldn’t be limited to one holiday. An attitude of gratitude should be an everyday occurrence. Check my blog.
Because it is the season, I want to acknowledge my Thanksgiving treasures today:
my loving husband (who’s the hero model for my novels)
my family and friends (far and near)
my pets (who brighten every day)
my church (which is my anchor)
and
most especially you, my readers.
As you go about the preparations for your celebration, spend some time thinking about the origins of the holiday and say a special thank you for your Thanksgiving treasures.
