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Show Harvest Festivals of Old. Man Is so constituted thut ho In forever for-ever straining for blessings from nfar while overlooking thoso at his feet. With our Inordinate desire for material mate-rial possessions, wo aro prono to forget for-get tho ethical nnd spiritual Import of Thanksgiving. To call forth our grntl-tmlo grntl-tmlo we must have more and more things. Wo must bo able to display an array of brilliant tangible objects. Moreover, wo must have sumptuous repasts, rich wines and heavy Bllver to be In a position to offer up prayerful prayer-ful thanks to thu Almighty Source "whence nil blosslngs How," It seems wo ennnot bo thankful for a llttlo good dcsplto tho dictum that "man wants hut llttlo hero below." We cannot show our gratitude unless It bo for nn "abundance" hence man's petitioning tho Higher Powers with prayers and sacrifices from the tlmo of tho patriarchs to our own day for more and ever more goods of the earth. Tho harvest coming aftor the enro and toll of tilling the soli, tho sowing of seed nnd nnxlous watching of tho Holds, has therefore been almost universally uni-versally set apart as a tlmo for special spe-cial thanks, or Thanksgiving. How-over, How-over, so far us wo know, no other nu-tlou nu-tlou carries out this custom regularly regular-ly every year on n specially appointed appoint-ed day; honco Thanksgiving Day has como to ho regarded as a distinctively American festival. It Is Interesting to observe that while Thanksgiving Day as wo know It, Is a peculiarly American festival, harvest festivals woro celebrated more than 5,000 years ngo. For Instance, In-stance, tho Jewish Sukkot (Festival of Booths) or Feast of tho Tabor-naclos, Tabor-naclos, was a harvest or "Ingathering" festival held from the 1Mb to the 22nd of tho tenth month, the first and olghth dny reserved for holy convocation. convoca-tion. According to religious usage, the people left their houses and came forth to live In tho booths or tents made of twigs, branches and brushwood, brush-wood, during tho holy session of eight days. Tho Interior of tho booths woro made festive with shrubs nnd foliage and especially tho loaves nnd fruit of tho palm, the "goodly tree" of Palestine. Pal-estine. (Tho Jewish people of tho Orthodox faith In many placos still obsorvo this festival In Its original fprm). Thanks unit praise for the bounties of the previous year wore offered of-fered In ritualistic formula nnd by the chanting of hymns; whilst merry games wero played In which fruits nnd nuts, emblematic or tho season, were always somowhero In evidence. Among tho Oreoks wo also find a harvest festival, the "Feast of Do-meter," Do-meter," named after tho (luddoss of Corn or Oruln. and of tho harvest. Here there were also probably games and merry-making us well ns rollglous ceremony. The Homans likewise commemorated com-memorated a harvest called "Corolla" after the (ioddoss of tho Hnrvest "Cores," repiesented In n familiar pic-I pic-I turo by a beautiful woman bearing a bundle of sheaves In her arms. Thus we see that tho same sentiment senti-ment that Impels nn Individual to tho expression of gratitude for benefits received, also moves a nation to manifest mani-fest In some reverent form Its grato-fill grato-fill recognition of special privilege oj general welfare. The ethical and splrltunl slgnlfl-ennco slgnlfl-ennco of Thanksgiving, with nil Its feasting. Its happy reunions nnd Its merrymuklng, will novur bu lost sight of. If we remember that this groat "fenst day" was born of "fnst dnys." And that while somo nre feasting, others oth-ers will still bo fasting. Thanksgiving Day will bo anlmnted by a finer spirit also when wo think ol It only In terms of materialism hut In terms of patriotism and doinocracy, whtm wo remember It as the day pro- claimed by tho first president on ' which to commemorate tho birth ol tho nation. In tho ndoptlou of tho con-istltiitlon; con-istltiitlon; and as tho day llxed by j Abraham Lincoln for prayor and thanksgiving after tho nation had passed through a torrlblo crisis the civil war. I |