Saturday, November 22, 1997

Giving thanks nothing new in religion

By LORETTA FULTON Senior Staff Writer

Every school child knows the story of the first Thanksgiving - or does he?

Few Americans would envision Moses speaking to the Israelites when talking about Thanksgiving traditions. But a reading of Leviticus 23:34-43 shows that long before the Pilgrims broke bread with the Native Americans, time was set aside for giving thanks in a special way.

"That really is the first Thanksgiving celebration we know anything about in history," said Eldon Degge, a deacon at Southern Hills Church of Christ who holds bachelor's degrees in Greek and Bible and a master's degree in history.

Degge, who has preached in Churches of Christ in four states and Labrador, each year campaigns on the behalf of Thanksgiving as its own celebration, not just a warmup to Christmas.

A graphic designer and author, Degge created the "Countdown to Thanksgiving" graphic that is running each day in the Reporter-News.

"I want people to join me in a couple of weeks of being thankful to our good and gracious God before Thanksgiving Day actually gets here," Degge said.

The seven-day Feast of Booths or Feast of Tabernacles recorded in the Leviticus passage is observed to this day by devote Jews.

"It's quite an affair even in modern Israel," Degge said.

In America, some Jews observe the feast by sleeping outside in tents "to remind them that their father wandered in the wilderness of Sinai," Degge said, recalling seeing lean-to shelters on the tops of apartment buildings in Brooklyn.

No one would mistake the Feast of Booths for today's Thanksgiving celebration, but there are some similarities. The emphasis in Leviticus is on offerings to God as it is supposed to be with today's observance.

any churches will have special services, and community dinners will be provided to share God's bounty with everyone. (See Outfront this page.)

One of the largest local worship services will be a Wylie community service set for 7 p.m. Sunday at Wylie United Methodist Church. Others participating are Wylie Baptist, Holy Family Catholic, Beltway Park Baptist, Ridgemont Baptist, Southwest Church of the Nazarene and Victory Church.

Some may decry the overeating that has become synonymous with Thanksgiving Day, but from the beginning, the emphasis has been on thanking God for our blessings and in enjoying them.

It is generally acknowledged that the first Thanksgiving observance in America came when the Pilgrims, by order of Gov. William Bradford, held a three-day festival to commemorate their harvest in the autumn of 1621. The celebration included sharing the feast with Indians.

It wasn't until 1789, however, that a specific day was set aside for Thanksgiving. In their book, <I>We Gather Together: the Story of Thanksgiving,<I> Ralph and Adelin Linton desribe the 1789 resolution presented to the National Congress which requested an official day of observance.

It requested "That a joint committee of both Houses be directed to wait upon the President of the United States to request that he would recommend to the people of the United States a day of public Thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a Constitution of government for their safety and happiness..."

Vigorous opposition arose, according to the book, when some protested that the president had no right to demand that the nation offer thanks for a constitution which hadn't been tried out yet and might not be satisfactory.

However, the resolution was adopted by both Houses and President George Washington issued the First National Thanksgiving Proclamation setting Thursday, Nov. 26, 1789, as the day.

It wasn't until Nov. 26, 1863, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national harvest festival to be held annually.

In December 1941 Congress passed a resolution making the fourth Thursday of that month a national legal holiday.

From the Feast of the Booths to today, people have felt a need to set aside time to thank God for their blessings. The words of that first Thanksgiving Proclamation still ring true: "Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor..."