Day of Thanksgiving
I’m very thankful to be with my family on this day after a long stressful year. I’m thankful for all of the delicious food we consumed, and to every person that made having access to that food possible. From the farmer all the way to the grocery store employees, I hope they all are having a joyful day. Not everyone has food security and I don’t take it for granted.
If you haven’t read about the history of this holiday I recommend checking out the Wikipedia page. It seems like a given now, but the path it took to become a standard in the US is quite complicated. It definitely has grown out of many different religious traditions, but what I found most interesting was the time when it was more of a random or irregular event, based on the external circumstances of the world.
Me, my aunt, cousin, and his girlfriend.
“A day of thanksgiving was a day set aside for public worship in thanksgiving for events believed to signal God's mercy and favor. Such a day might be proclaimed by the civil authority or the church.” The counter or complement to that was something called a day of humiliation or fasting, which was more of a punishment connected to the judgment of God. “A day of humiliation or thanksgiving might be proclaimed in response to a drought, flood, fire, military defeat, or plague. They might also be held before the undertaking of a difficult endeavor.” Seems related to what’s happening now in many ways!
Fasting is something I’ve been researching and I think that’s why this part of history caught my eye. After stuffing myself to the brim with food today, the idea of less or limits appeals to me. I’m considering occasional fasts, to rest my system, and to work on a healthier relationship with food. Too often I eat without being hungry and for emotional comfort.
This train of thought also reminds me of a Stoic practice promoted by Tim Ferriss, from the Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 18, On Festivals and Fasting. “Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare, with coarse and rough dress, saying to yourself the while: ‘Is this the condition that I feared?” This is how my mind works.