Something that rarely occurs is to have Thanksgiving and Hanukkah occur at the same time.  Hanukkah begins this evening, goes through Thanksgiving, and ends about the same time the turkey sandwiches and leftovers are finished off a week later.

Also known as the Festival of Lights, it is a time of celebration. It goes to the re-dedication of the Second Temple in the times of the Maccabees. Israel had been sacked by Antiochus Epiphanes, who set up an altar to Zeus in the Jerusalem temple and sacrificed pigs on the altar.  According to the Books of Maccabeus in the Apocrypha, several people were tortured to death for refusing to eat pork and deny God.  After a long and difficult war, the Jews regained much of their independence and ability to worship Jehovah in His temple again.

The temple needed purifying and a re-dedication – an 8 day event. However, there was not consecrated/sacred oil enough to keep the sacred menorah in the Temple lit for 8 days.  The miracle occurred when one day’s worth of oil lasted through the entire re-dedication of the temple, until another batch of oil could be procured for the regular service.

Hanukkah means to “dedicate” and is a time for Jews to rededicate themselves to their religion, so hardly fought for over the millennia.

I am a descendant of the Mayflower.  On board were 102 people, despite the belief, almost none were Puritans.  Most were Separatists, with a good number being sailors and others seeking a new start.  The Separatists had been persecuted in England for their religious views.  Moving to the Netherlands for religious freedom, they found they were now victims of economic persecution.  They chose to start anew in the Americas.

John Howland was an indentured servant to John Carver, one of the leaders of the expedition.  In the crossing, they hit a major storm.  While attempting to tie things down on deck, John was washed off the ship and into the roiling sea.  As Fortune and God would have it, John was able to grab hold of a rope as he went overboard.  Holding his breath under 20 feet of water for what must have seemed an eternity, he was finally hauled back up by others.  He would go on to earn his independence and become a major leader of the early Pilgrims.

Arriving in November 1620, off course from their planned destination in Virginia, they chose to establish a new colony.  This new colony would require a government, and so the Mayflower Compact was composed and signed prior to anyone leaving the ship. A test of self-government was to begin. However, It was a very harsh winter for the colony.  Of the 102 Mayflower passengers and sailors, exactly half would not live to see the Spring of 1621.

John would marry a young woman that came aboard the ship, Elizabeth Tilley.  Her parents would be among those who died that first winter.  These are my ancestors.

That Spring, the Pilgrims would receive a God-send, as Native Americans, led by Squanto, would teach them how to survive in this New World. Squanto had been kidnapped by early voyagers and taken back to Europe, where he learned to speak English and know of their customs.  The harvest would be plentiful, an amazing contrast to the suffering earlier that same year.

William Bradford described the first harvest like this:

They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty. For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercised in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion. All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides, they had about a peck a meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to the proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not feigned but true reports.

Of the first Thanksgiving feast, Edward Winslow wrote:

“Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruits of our labor. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which we brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.”

In 1623, after a short drought, there would be another good harvest and Thanksgiving feast. William Bradford wrote of that period:

And afterwards the Lord sent them such seasonable showers, with interchange of fair warm weather as, through His blessing, caused a fruitful and liberal harvest, to their no small comfort and rejoicing. For which mercy, in time convenient, they also set apart a day of thanksgiving…

By this time harvest was come, and instead of famine now God gave them plenty … for which they blessed God. And the effect of their particular planting was well seen, for all had … pretty well … so as any general want or famine had not been amongst them since to this day.

For us today to be thankful for the miracles of Thanksgiving and of Hanukkah, where God helped two small groups of people seeking religious freedom – either from British theocrats or Hellenist tyrants, to worship God according to the dictates of their consciences.  This freedom opened the door for the mortal Christ to walk among the Jews, and for the Lord to appear to the 14 year old Joseph Smith, leaving much of the world a better place for the religious benefits we now have.

If you imagine the Old West, you are very likely to bring up images of gunslingers shooting each other, gold miners fighting over claims or cattlemen battling each other over herds or water rights. In short, you probably imagine the Old West as hopelessly and unusually violent.

The truth is that the Old West was not any more violent, on a whole, than the rest of the United States in the late 19th century, and in most locales it was significantly safer. The truth is that people mostly got along with each other and formed cooperative local governments to deal with conflict resolution in a peaceful way. And, interestingly, even though most men openly carried guns, crime was significantly lower in general than in most American cities today.

And Utah, settled by Mormons, was, on a whole, one of the safest and crime-free areas of the West.

Consider the following:

*In the cattle towns of Abilene, Ellsworth, Wichita, Dodge City, and Caldwell for the years from 1870 to 1885, only 45 homicides were reported, an average of 1.5 per cattle-trading season. In Abilene, supposedly one of the wildest of the cow towns, “nobody was killed in 1869 or 1870. In fact, nobody was killed until the advent of officers of the law, employed to prevent killings.” Only two towns, Ellsworth in 1873 and Dodge City in 1876, ever had five killings in any one year. (Source).

*A detailed study of violence in two of the most violent mining towns in Aurora, Nevada, and Bodie, California shows that property crime rates were very low and that rape was nonexistent. Almost all men carried guns, but the guns mostly served as deterrents. “Robbery of individuals, burglary, and theft occurred only infrequently and rape seems not to have occurred at all. Racial violence and serious juvenile crime were absent also. The homicides that occurred almost invariably resulted from gunfights between willing combatants. The old, the weak, the innocent, the young, and the female were not the targets of violent men. In fact, all people in those categories would have been far safer in Aurora or Bodie than they are today in any major U.S. city. Even most smaller cities and towns are far more crime ridden and dangerous than were Aurora and Bodie.” (Source).

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Reading up on Thanksgiving in the Scriptures, I came across D&C 59 that is very fitting for the Holiday celebration. The topic is a discussion of the proper Lord’s Day observance. It could be talking just as much about the Thanksgiving season and what it can mean as a religious Holiday. Ponder the following exhortation:

13 And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy fasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be full.

14 Verily, this is fasting and prayer, or in other words, rejoicing and prayer.

15 And inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances, not with much laughter, for this is sin, but with a glad heart and a cheerful countenance—

16 Verily I say, that inasmuch as ye do this, the afulness of the earth is yours, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which climbeth upon the trees and walketh upon the earth;

17 Yea, and the herb, and the good things which come of the earth, whether for food or for raiment, or for houses, or for barns, or for orchards, or for gardens, or for vineyards;

18 Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart;

19 Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul.

20 And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion.

21 And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.

What goodness could be accomplished if, as a culture, such an attitude would be maintained for longer than a day or short month. Instead, we think ahead to Christmas without the glorious anticipation of piety for the birth of the Savior. Rather, we spend most of the time running around to shop, look at the bright lights, and enjoy spectacle divorced of spiritual wonder. No longer is the focus on family, friends, or charity beyond a few token acknowledgements in word and deed. Continue reading →

Salt Lake City has been named the 2013 Bible City of the year by the National Bible Association, a more ecumenical organization than other Evangelical groups with the same goal of raising Bible reading awareness. As reported on the Church News website:

The National Bible Association, which named Salt Lake City its National Bible City for 2013, will host a Concert of Praise for God’s Word in the Tabernacle on Temple Square on Saturday, November 23, at 7:00 p.m.

The program will include Bible readings by Hollywood actress Roma Downey (Touched by an Angel) and her husband, producer Mark Burnett (The Voice). The program will also feature musical performances by the Singing Sensations, a gospel choir from Baltimore, Maryland; Jewish Cantor Emmanuel Perlman; the Salt Lake University Institute Singers; and the BYU Singers.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will attend and give remarks. . .

An article about the designation and activities in the Salt Lake Tribune further stated:

To those who question lumping Mormonism into that tradition, the group’s president, Richard Glickstein, simply asks: “Do Mormons read the Bible? Then they are part of the tribe.”

“Mormons do read the Bible,” explains Philip Barlow, chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University, noting that the Good Book makes up half the church’s four-year scripture-study curriculum.

In fact, the King James Version is part of LDS canon. Of course, members believe in additional scripture as well, including the faith’s signature work, the Book of Mormon.

There will also be a Public Bible Reading at the Utah State Capital rotunda Monday November 25th at 12:00 p.m. The state Governor Herbert and Randy Rigby, President of the Utah Jazz, will be among others of prominence that will attend the reading.

According to the association website, “National Bible Association’s signature event, National Bible Week, has been celebrated the week of Thanksgiving every year since 1941. Our goal is to encourage everyone to read the Bible and raise awareness of the Bible’s importance and relevance to our nation as a whole, as well as in the lives of individuals.”

At least one Mormon, Ahmad S. Corbitt, is part of the trustees for the association. He did not take part in the actual decision of where would be named “City of the Bible” for this year. No notices have been given if the events will be broadcast by multi-media, although attendance is expected to be high. Although Salt Lake City has, like everywhere in the United States, no one religion that everyone follows; Mormonism is considered the dominant faith. What an honor to be part of a tradition that wants to include rather than exclude people who believe The Good Book inspired Joseph Smith Jr. to go into a grove of trees to fully experience God’s Word.