Most stories of Thanksgiving history start with the harvest celebration of the Pilgrims and the Indians that took place in the autumn of 1623. As the story goes, the two groups - one invaders in the otherís land - put aside their differences and broke bread together to celebrate a harvest of food coming in the midst of a tough year of survival.
The story of that first Thanksgiving, though far removed from what comprises differences and what constitutes hardship in 2012, has many of the same elements of today.
People of different backgrounds still approach each other with some uncertainties. And when the barrier of differences is crossed, people come together for a common good.
These times are tough for many. Like the pilgrims braving a new land and struggling with hunger and disease, many people today are faced with rising debt, loss of jobs, illness and not enough money for the food and clothing their families need. The nation and our communities struggle in a continuing difficult economy.
That first Thanksgiving for the Pilgrims was in celebration of a bountiful harvest coming after a devastating winter months earlier. The Indians had helped them survive and had helped teach them how to hunt and grow crops that led to their bounty. History tells us their feast lasted three days.
The charm of that first Thanksgiving story has lessons that remain in 2012, an election year marked by bitter divisiveness and a lack of confidence in our future.
In our impatience for things to get better, we have become polarized and embraced old habits of mistrust and malevolence toward those different from us.
Like the Pilgrims and the Indians, Thanksgiving can be our coming together.
This can be the day we sit down to our own bounty, whether it is a meal offered at a local church or a family dinner scaled down in size but fulfilling nonetheless.
As people in our community continue to be unemployed and in danger of losing their homes, neighbors will help them from going hungry. As we break bread together, we give thanks for surviving what we have survived and achieving what we can achieve.
Despite our troubles, we are blessed.
Despite our differences, we are the same.
Those lessons from the first Thanksgiving are with us today.
Let us break bread and give thanks together.