By Butch G. Galicia
It’s Autumn. The mercury is dropping; the cold sneaking in. The days get shorter; the nights, longer.
The leaf will soon change colours; reluctantly but obediently freeing itself from the branch, to glide with the wind until it finally rests in the embrace and solace of the soil.
Year after year, the imagery repeats itself; yet, autumn never ceases to fascinate.
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Before layers, hooded jackets, boots, fleece-lined leggings and long johns become vogue, go out and roam.
Use the remaining pre-winter moments to know and feel what Canada is all about.
Surely, the country can offer a lot more than what one routinely and typically make sense of day after day.
While at it, ask why it is most appropriate to be thankful for having been one of the few chosen to live, work and play in a great nation.
Be warm with your history and story in the True North.
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On October 10, Canada will again celebrate Thanksgiving Day, when family members typically gather for a meal to praise and give glory to God for blessings He gifted them in the past year.
Since Thanksgiving Day falls on a long weekend, the celebration may begin earlier.
The fun and festivity may be done in the warm confines of a home, at an accommodating park or elsewhere in the great Canadian outdoors.
Citizens and permanent residents still hoping and praying to reunite with their families and kin in Canadian soil may consider Thanksgiving Day as precious time to renew and firm up bonds with friends and good neighbours.
Thinking of ways to make Thanksgiving Day memorable?
Try the infinite potential of creativity, or simply go Google for how-to and quick fix tips.
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Throwback: In 1578, explorer Martin Frobisher and his crew celebrated and thanked God for a successful journey through the Northwest Passage, amid ice storms and extreme cold weather.
This is said to be the earliest account of a thanksgiving in North America.
From 1604, French settlers who crossed the ocean and came to Canada with explorer Samuel de Champlain, celebrated their safe trip with regular feasts of thanks.
The settlers and members of the First Nations soon came to share food and thanksgiving practices in a mutual celebration known as the Order of Good Cheer.
In 1763, the people of Nova Scotia marked the end of the Seven Years War with joyful gratitude.
After World War I, Thanksgiving and Armistice (later Remembrance) Day were marked in the same week in November.
Celebrating Turkey Day, as it was to be conveniently known later, moved from date to date, usually in either October or November.
Only on January 31, 1957 did Canada’s Parliament proclaim the observance of Thanksgiving Day every second Monday in October.
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Much earlier observances of thanksgiving, however, may be traced to members of the First Nations.
Besides occasional festivals, they daily recognized and acknowledged God’s benevolence and graciousness.
This was thousands of years before Europeans set foot in Canada,
With that perspective, it may be apt to call Thanksgiving Day as the ‘You’re Welcome Weekend’?
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Giving thanks to a Being that one perceives and believes to be Higher Authority, by whatever name it is called, is not new. It is as ancient as the cavemen who have been gifted with the sublime tools of intellect and free will to figure out things and perform easier tasks, to live, survive and be happy.
Thanksgiving Day is not a trailblazing Western initiative. It is a practice of all peoples of the world, unique and different in form and application it may be.
The West, however, thought it good enough to at least give families and kin a 24-hour or less holiday activity to meet, greet, sit on a table propped up with a huge roasted turkey, say a prayer of thanks to Bathala, share a meal, and exchange pleasantries. They go their own ways afterward; but perhaps, just perhaps, they are looking forward to the next Thanksgiving Day.
Anyways, a Thanksgiving Prayer may be said anytime, even daily, alone or in public.
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Speaking of a Thanksgiving Prayer, here is one from American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson:
For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything that goodness sends.
For flowers that bloom about our feet;
For tender grass so fresh and sweet;
For song of bird and hum of bee;
For all things fair we hear or see;
Father in Heaven, we thank Thee!
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Time out muna! A few days ago, a TV news headline read: New study finds intelligent people use more swear words, demonstrating higher rhetorical skills and overall vocabulary.
O, nabasa’t naintindihan mo rin pala. Muntik ka rin bang masuka?
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Time out ulit! They say: Bawal magmura; dapat magmahal.
Brod, this is great advice … for businessmen.
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Time out pa more! These days, people seem to lose voice and oratory when asked to swear “I do”.
Ooops! Puwera ang mga pulitiko sa Kamara at Senado who drool at the thought of being paid big bucks to sleep inside big halls. Their snores and snorts do the swearing, and they are not even intelligent. Bah! Talk about leaders! #####