Thanksgiving aka National Diversity Day

Well Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
I hope this one proves better than all the others before. I hope the turkey tastes better, the temperature is nicer, the families are closer, and the Cowboys lose. :)
Today I thought I'd put a little twist on this post and not make it a cliche Thanksgiving post.

For those of you who know me best, I'm not much one for promoting diversity or worrying much about it at all. This is funny considering I chose to go to college in Los Angeles, the melting pot of the world, and the college itself (Biola University) is a huge promoter of diversity. But today I'm going to make up for my past "ignorance"(as my roommate calls it) and focus on this most intriguing topic.


For those of you who may not know, the first Thanksgiving was held in 1621 in Plymouth by the Pilgrims and the Indians (am I allowed to say that?). Anyway, what you may or may not have known was that only two of the Indians spoke English (Samoset and Squanto). And I can pretty much guarantee none of the Pilgrims knew the Indian's language.

So imagine with me for a second that you are sitting at home when all of the sudden a big van of people pull into your yard, and declare that land to be theirs. What is your first reaction? Get the gun? Ask them what on earth they are doing? Call the police? Throw a party? Well the Indians decided to throw a party.

Now imagine you are searching for a new home. At last you find a beautiful place. Then you find out it's already claimed. What do you do? Get your gun? Go to war? Throw a party? Well the Pilgrims threw a party.

Think about it. Two people groups from opposite sides of the world, who could barely communicate with each other. People always think of America as the country that murdered all the Indians. That big bully John Wayne. But regardless of where it all ended. Let's not forget where it began. The first Thanksgiving was the greatest diversity movement of all time. Not only were their lives completely different, they spoke different languages, knew virutally nothing about the other, etc. So what did they do?

They chose to celebrate those differences. They didn't need a speaker to come in from both sides saying how they felt belittled by the other group, or how they needed to construct a building in rememberance of the importance of diversity. They just partied for a week straight. They ate, had tournaments, played games, laughed, and just had an ol' American good time.

They chose to love, to help eachother, and to live in peace with one another. I'm not ignorant of the world's problems when it comes to diversity. And sure, buildings and speakers and all those things have their place. But on this great clelebration we call Thanksgiving, let's just straight up party with everyone, regardless of race, culture, language, or favorite football team. And above all, let us give thanks (like the Pilgrims) to our Heavenly Father who has blessed us with these differences.

God bless you all today, and Happy Thanksgiving!