Enjoy a Marvellous Thanksgiving

THANKSGIVING

Today’s blog post is neither related to publishing nor to book marketing, it’s a salute to everyone who reads this article, combined with best wishes for a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING, hopefully with family and friends. Have a lovely holiday and an enjoyable long weekend. Please read on:
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History and Meaning of Thanksgiving – then and now:
It all started with REFUGEES (then called colonists), who – like many people getting off a boat – gave thanks for setting foot again on dry land.  Almost all Canadians and Americans are descendants of REFUGEES – their ancestors were coming from war-torn countries, they often were religious refugees or victims of famine.  Another refugee trek happened over land, when United Empire Loyalists were fleeing from the United States during the American Revolution, got refugee status and settled in Canada.
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According to AllAboutHistory:
“The first “Thanksgiving,” was neither a feast nor a holiday, but a simple gathering.  Following the Mayflower’s arrival at Plymouth Rock / MA, on December 11, 1620, the Pilgrims (a protestant sect) suffered the loss of 46 of their original 102 refugees / colonists – just the same as it happened too often during the last years in the mediterranean sea with people who ran from their war-torn countries.
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With the help of 91 Indians, the remaining Pilgrims survived the bitter winter and yielded a bountiful harvest in 1621.  Can you imagine these Native People would not have helped the Europeans and instead would have refused to let them land and settle?
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“In celebration, a traditional English harvest festival, lasting three days brought the Pilgrims and natives to unite in a “thanksgiving” observance. In gratitude, we humbly reflect upon all the gifts (family, friends, health, wealth) that saturate our lives.
By “giving-thanks” we choose to extend ourselves and give to others less fortunate.  Out of the abundance of our hearts, we are able to offer our resources to help others.”
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Think about what THANKSGIVING means:
After all, the NATIVES in North America took the European refugees in and helped the first settlers to survive – before these very settlers stole the Native’s land and dispelled them…
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While we are sitting down for a delicious Turkey meal, let’s remember that war refugees from Syria and their children are begging on the streets in Turkey or the Lebanon for a slice of bread and a bit water, and that the whole family often has to sleep within a 15 sq-ft tent either in one of these refugee camps or on the streets – since the war started, four years ago!

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More than 200,000 People have been Killed.
The Syrian civil war, a horrific conflict that has ravaged the country since 2011, it started with the largely nonviolent protest movement often called the “Arab Spring”.  Since then twelve million Syrians have fled their homes to escape the bloodshed, around four million of whom became refugees by leaving the country and hanging in limbo now in Turkey, Lebanon, Italy and Greece.  The exodus triggered a humanitarian crisis in Europe, where more than a million refugees are expected to flood into the continent by year’s end, 850,000 of those already arrived in tiny boats and via treks through the Balkan, often walking thousands of miles on foot.
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Read here About the Though US Screening Process
The United States could easily take in 3 Million war refugees = only roughly 0,1 % of the US population).  And Canadians: please remember that you took in 35,000 Hungarians who were fleeing their communist country in 1965, and later many boat refugees from Asia. What are 25,000war refugees (ca. 0,014% of the Canadian population), compared to these numbers?
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Why not HELP them?
A huge part of the North American population goes to Church on Sundays, calling themselves Christians.  Why not act like a Christian, and help those who are haunted by the war, have lost family members and their homes and now are begging for your help.
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THANKSGIVING should be a holiday of remembering where one comes from and being THANKFUL for a great life and thinking about how it is possible to help the less fortunate – in these days the war refugees.  Invite a family from abroad to your home for a lovely dinner and show them Western hospitality and friendliness. Imagine to walk in their shoes!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING again and thanks for reading.

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