Maple Ridge, BC
Today is Canadian Thanksgiving. I am not a huge fan of turkey meat and so we are having chicken.
Browning explains that in the Hebrew Bible an animal sacrifice was offered in gratitude for favours received. The meat was shared with the donor and the priest. Browning (1997: 367). Browning notes that in Judaism a thanksgiving berakah was offered at meals and that Jesus Christ gave thanks at the Lord's Supper. Browning (1997: 367). W.A. Van Gembren explains that the Biblical teaching on offerings and sacrifices is at the centre of redemptive history. Van Gembren (1996: 788). I realize animal sacrifices took place for atonement in the Hebrew Bible.
I am not stating that Canadian Thanksgiving is a Biblically based holiday, but I am stating that in both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament giving thanks to God is an intellectually reasonable and good thing to do. (See comment).
As a Christian I am thankful to be chosen in Christ (Ephesians 1), through grace through faith unto good works (Ephesians 2: 8-10). I am thankful that in line with Roman 8: 28-30, all things work for good to those who love God, to those called according to his purpose. This perspective is also a central point in my MPhil and PhD theses.
There is no greater honour and pleasure than serving the one and true Biblical God.
I am thankful to live in a democratic country, even though as with the Western world in general terms society and governments seem increasingly against God. I am thankful for my blogs and the teaching and learning that takes place. I am thankful for my fellow bloggers, readers, and commenters. I am thankful for our debates to a point, although at times we risk becoming turkeys! I am thankful for my blogs and that I can continue to ask the Lord that I will objectively deal with issues and attempt to tone down confrontational language, as I do not want to be a turkey!
I am thankful for all spiritual and physical blessings.
C.E.B. Cranfield comments that although God can will grievous and evil things to occur, God in Christ works these things towards the greater good, in particular in the context of salvation, for those that know Christ. Cranfield (1992: 204). Evil and sin are not to be confused with goodness and obedience, but as God willingly allows evil things to occur, his purposes and motives are pure. As Calvin noted, God’s motives would remain pure even while horrendous evils take place, and God need not be less than perfectly good. Calvin (1543)(1996: 40)
I am not thankful for my own sin and the sin of others, sleep apnea, vitreous floaters, the fact that my PhD has still not been reviewed, or for some of the unecessary arguments that take place while blogging on-line and via email. But, I can be thankful that God can and does use evils for the greater good, as an infinite God can use all finite events and actions for the greater good, and this takes place for those in Christ.
From:
history
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day (Canadian French: Action de grâce), is an annual one-day holiday to give thanks for the things one has at the close of the harvest season. Some people thank God for this bounty.[1] The holiday is celebrated on the second Monday in October...
Thanksgiving is a statutory holiday in all jurisdictions, with the exception of the provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. Where a company is regulated by the federal government (such as those in the Telecommunications and Banking sectors), it is recognized regardless of status provincially.[2][3][4][5][6]
As a liturgical festival, Thanksgiving corresponds to the English and continental European Harvest festival, with churches decorated with cornucopias, pumpkins, corn, wheat sheaves, and other harvest bounty, English and European harvest hymns sung on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend and scriptural selections drawn from biblical stories relating to the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot...
History of Thanksgiving in Canada
The history of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Orient. In the year 1578, he held a formal ceremony, in what is now the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, to give thanks for surviving the long journey. The feast was one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in North America, although celebrating the harvest and giving thanks for a successful bounty of crops had been a long-standing tradition throughout North America by various First Nations and Native American groups. First Nations and Native Americans throughout the Americas, including the Pueblo, Cherokee, Cree and many others organized harvest festivals, ceremonial dances, and other celebrations of thanks for centuries before the arrival of Europeans in North America [7]. Frobisher was later knighted and had an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in northern Canada named after him — Frobisher Bay...
Starting in 1879 Thanksgiving Day was observed every year but the date was proclaimed annually and changed year to year. The theme of the Thanksgiving holiday also changed year to year to reflect an important event to be thankful for. In the early years it was for an abundant harvest and occasionally for a special anniversary.
References
^ a b The Globe and Mail
^ http://www.gnb.ca/0308/FactSheets/04.pdf
^ "Thanksgiving - is it a Statutory Holiday?". Gov.ns.ca. Retrieved on 2008-10-13.
^ "CHAPTER E-6.2" (PDF). Retrieved on 2008-10-13.
^ "RSNL1990 CHAPTER L-2 - LABOUR STANDARDS ACT". Assembly.nl.ca. Retrieved on 2008-10-13.
^ http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/lp/spila/clli/eslc/stat_hol.pdf
^ The History of Thanksgiving - First Thanksgiving
This is music dedicated to Chucky, Bobby, Jamie, Jason/GGM, and Simon, some my friends that are fans of progressive music.
Xanadu 8-18-2004
Freewill 6-27-1990
Mahavishnu Orchestra: Resolution
Mahavishnu Orchestra: Dawn from Syracuse 1972.
BROWNING, W.R.F. (1997) Oxford Dictionary of the Bible, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
CALVIN, JOHN (1543)(1996) The Bondage and Liberation of the Will, Translated by G.I. Davies, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.
CRANFIELD, C.E.B. (1992) Romans: A Shorter Commentary, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
VAN GEMBEREN, W.A. (1996) ‘Offering and Sacrifices in Bible Times', in Walter A. Elwell (ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Books.
