The Alliance Herald

Ways and Means of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in the language from which it is derived really means thought giving, and that reminds me of the lines,

"There is nothing, good or bad, But thinking makes it so."

If we are not thankful it is our own fault. There are few of us whom fortune has so abused, but on this one day of the year we cannot find something to be thankful about—if we but think. We can at least be thankful for the free blessing of light, the blue sky so clear and deep in the November days, the sunshine that brightens the earth and the life that runs in our veins.

There are few of us too, so poor we cannot give a thought of gratitude for other blessings we have. There are few of us so placed in life that we cannot help someone else to be thankful if we try.

From the first Thanksgiving day when Governor Bradford sent out men to bring in wild turkeys for the feast in honor of the first harvest in Plymouth, there has been a general opinion that this is a harvest festival and so it becomes a home festival. That is one of the blessings of the day to mothers and fathers. They can give thanks in truth when they see their children and grandchildren around them. It ought to be in the minds of sons and daughters, a pleasant duty to pay especial attention to their parents on this day. If they cannot be at home they can at least send a letter or a telegram of greeting to the "home folks."

The thought of Thanksgiving being a home festival sometimes is a stumbling block in the minds of men and women who have either no home ties or are prevented by circumstances from being in their own home circle or from joining the circle of their friends. So they shrug their mental shoulders and say to themselves, Why should I be thankful? No one cares.

Something like that was the first thought of a young woman, alone in a large city, making her own way in the world. Her second thought was better. She reasoned: "If I am alone here with no one to give me a Thanksgiving dinner, there must be a great many others in the same position, and maybe some who cannot buy even a good dinner."

"If I'm going to show any gratitude for the blessings of health and strength and courage, I'll look out for someone else." She did so, by going to the superintendent of a newsboy home and asking for three boys who had no relatives or friends in the city who should be her guests at a Thanksgiving dinner. The superintendent entered heartily into the plan.

On Thanksgiving day she made these boys her real guests (not charity guests), in every sense. There was a turkey dinner with all the "fixings," and there were tickets to a matinee in the afternoon. But best of all, she became acquainted with them to such a degree that these boys looked upon her as a friend and showed in different ways later how much they appreciated the Thanksgiving treat.

A SCHOOL teacher way out on the Pacific coast felt as if she were in exile. She had no friends or relatives within two thousand miles. At first she did not look forward with any pleasure to the first Thanksgiving day to be spent among strangers. But it is her disposition to make the most of life. If she cannot have what she likes she looks for something to like in what she has. She decided to give someone a good Thanksgiving dinner. It was out of the question for her to entertain anyone and the idea of just sending a basket to a worthy family did not seem to be sufficient.

She wanted a personal touch somehow. She consulted with a woman, who, while not a social worker, knew the city and the needs of many a family. Through this woman she found a widow with two sons who was just about ready to give up the struggle and break up her home. She had been sick, was discouraged and lonely and was losing spirit and energy.

The school teacher took in the situation with keen sympathy. A basket of groceries, a chicken, vegetables and fruit made a Thanksgiving dinner possible. It was a dinner that more than fed the bodies of the mother and children. It put new courage into them.

The school teacher forgot her own loneliness in being thankful she could lend a hand to a less fortunate sister. The mother shouldered her responsibilities with new courage which never flagged until finally a neat and comfortable home for herself and her children was the result.

It pays sometimes to replace "For what I am about to receive make me truly thankful" by another prayer "For what I am about to give make me truly thankful."