{"id":26173,"date":"2018-11-04T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2018-11-04T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/?p=26173"},"modified":"2018-11-04T07:19:40","modified_gmt":"2018-11-04T14:19:40","slug":"christmas-thanksgiving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/christmas-thanksgiving\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Christmas in Thanksgiving"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Thanksgiving\"<\/a>A recent survey revealed sharp divisions in when the celebration of Christmas<\/a> begins. Nearly a third said Christmas<\/a> begins right after Halloween<\/a>, a third said Christmas<\/a> begins right after Thanksgiving<\/strong><\/a> and for another third the celebration of Christmas<\/a> is something done every day.<\/p>\n

In recent years many have insisted that Christmas<\/a> so overpowers the calendar that holidays such as Thanksgiving<\/a> and Veteran\u2019s Day are entirely forgotten.<\/p>\n

Those making the argument are also those who claim Christmas<\/a> celebration comes in the form of broadcast music, seasonal Starbucks cups and decorations<\/a> sold in stores.<\/p>\n

There are even those who blanch and take offense at the spoken love<\/a> of Christmas<\/a> or the early placed Christmas<\/a> tree in a public space. Each year it is a topic of conversation and even heated debate.<\/p>\n

What gets lost on most is that Thanksgiving<\/a> and Christmas<\/a> have gone hand in hand, like peas-and-carrots for nearly five centuries.<\/p>\n

Their commonality has led to grand ironies about both holidays in modern times.<\/p>\n

Both Thanksgiving<\/a> and Christmas<\/a> were officially made national holidays in the United States in 1870. Many a historian and Internet blogger have made the mistaken assumption that without such a declaration the celebration of Christmas<\/a> and Thanksgiving<\/a> was fragmentary at best.<\/p>\n

This is not true. Both Thanksgiving<\/strong><\/a> and Christmas<\/a> were widely celebrated long before the US Congress got around to declaring them official.<\/p>\n

That Thanksgiving<\/a> and Christmas<\/a> have been celebrated in diverse ways has always been true. For some, both holidays are purely secular affairs. They are \u201ctime off\u201d, at best.<\/p>\n

For others both are sacred days of worship.<\/p>\n

In this respect both Thanksgiving<\/a> and Christmas<\/a> share common roots.<\/p>\n

Thanksgiving<\/a> of 500 years ago was usually not a specific day on the calendar. It was a declared acknowledgement of God.<\/p>\n

When there was a great battle won or a large harvest to celebrate a period of \u201cthanksgiving\u201d was declared so that family could gather and thank God for their good fortunes.<\/p>\n

Some years saw many Thanksgivings and while gathering and feasting have always been a part of Thanksgiving<\/a> its primary purpose was worship.<\/p>\n

Christmas<\/a> too was a time of gathering and feasting around a religious event.<\/p>\n

While there is no doubt that end-of-year celebrations have long been distorted as a season for mirth and debauchery, and that the early sacred celebrations of Christmas<\/a> likely had nothing to do with that time of the year, traditions of many Christian societies linked Thanksgiving<\/a> and Christmas<\/a> due to their religious significance.<\/p>\n

In Puritan American history the celebration of both nearly a month apart was an undeclared tradition for the most practical of reasons: late November through December was a time when family could, after a long year of toil, gather together and enjoy the fruits of their labor in celebration.<\/p>\n

The literal celebration of \u201cover the river and through the woods\u201d has been an American way of life for over four hundred years.<\/p>\n

In those four hundred years the traditions of the holidays have morphed.<\/p>\n

For Thanksgiving<\/a>, things like football and parades have crept in to diminish its religious roots.<\/p>\n

For Christmas<\/a>, everything from Christmas<\/a> trees to eggnog<\/a> have watered down its pure celebration that focused squarely on family.<\/p>\n

Folks still make both Thanksgiving<\/a> and Christmas<\/a> about family. But what family does on and between these two holidays is growing ever more diverse.<\/p>\n

But the modern argument that one overshadows the other is false. Thanksgiving<\/a> and Christmas<\/a> have never been meant to be observed without the other. In fact, their marriage is what has made it \u201cthe holiday season\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n