Any school child can tell you the story of Thanksgiving: how the Pilgrims and Indians came together before the onset of a harsh New England winter to share what they had in a feast. The meal was probably quite modest by today’s standards. The avalanche of food from all corners of the world that constitutes our Thanksgiving feasts was far beyond the means of the New World settlers and their native hosts. According to the writings that have come down from the original Plymouth colony, however, the first Thanksgiving meal was quite a spread. They ate venison, duck, goose, seafood, eel, white bread, corn bread, leeks, and watercress. Wild plums and dried berries were served for dessert, with wine from wild grapes. Turkey was not on the menu, though wild turkeys were plentiful at the time.

Thanksgiving didn’t arise as a national holiday until the 19th century. Yet we still reach all the way back to 1621 to the story of this meal as the basis of the holiday because it carries a moral message that fits nicely with what we have come to call The American Way. The moral of the story is that we all pull together in the face of hardship. The face of hardship was quite severe back in 1621. The previous winter, 46 of the 102 Pilgrims who made the crossing from England on the Mayflower died. Winter no longer claims half our population, and the life we give thanks for now is far more safe and secure. But we still like to think of ourselves in this country as pulling together.

Anyone looking at our country this Thanksgiving week in the year 2000 might logically conclude, however, that we are all pulling apart, not together. The disputes in Florida over counting out the last crucial votes to decide the closest presidential election in our history took on an acid tone. The facts of the election vote count were hard to come by in the turbulence of spin. Each side accused the other of trying to steal the election by cheating, lying, distorting, and otherwise trampling on the prerogative of the American people to choose their leaders. They seemed intent on creating such an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust that should their opponent win, there would be no chance to unify and lead the country. The members of the evenly divided congress have themselves become the foremost purveyors of spin and will ensure that the new President will preside over paralysis and not progress for the next four years. Cynics are quick to point out that we are witnessing The New American Way, in which truth is less important than perception, and winning power is worth losing integrity.

 We refuse to be cynical at Thanksgiving time. We know that many people are facing real hardship. Those in the grip of poverty or illness or a storm of personal circumstances that have thrown their lives out of control are struggling for survival just as hard as the Pilgrims did more than 350 years ago. And we see right here in our own town how people pull together through their churches and civic organizations and as families to lend a helping hand, to ease the suffering of others, and to address such harsh realities without spin, without laying blame, and without regard for what they will get out of it. This is The American Way. This is the human way. And for this enduring tradition, we truly give thanks.