|
| Re George's quip about American vs. Canadian thanksgiving ...
|
| Thanksgiving is, of course, a Calvinist ecclesiastical feast, which no
| doubt originated in the Pilgrim fathers' stay in the Netherlands, shortly
| prior to their venture to the New World. The hymn "We gather together" is
| a direct translation of a Dutch hymn, found in Valerius' Gedenkklank
| ("Wilt heden nu treden". The melody is that of an
| erotic love song, "Wilder dan wild, wie zal mij temmen".)
Now there you go, again, thinking Canadians are just echoing our
wonderful neighbours to the south. ;-) In fact, a thanksgiving
feast was celebrated in Newfoundland about some years before the
Mayflower was even a gleam in a shipbuilder's eye (hmm does that
analogy really work?).
Now I have to admit that I don't remember the confessional
commitments of those visitors to that fair and blustery island, but
I would be very surprised if they were calvinists of any ethnic
persuasion.
Mind you, as a typical Canadian, I don't enough of my own history to
be absolutely sure that I have all the details correct. So, Frans,
feel free to blow me out of the water on this one.
Personally, in attempting to diminish any danger of
emotive nationalism, I try to celebrate both thanksgiving days! :-)
Unfortunately, my current employer has yet to agree to give me the
time off for either...
Cheers
Jim
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James R. Ginther
Dept. of Theology and Religious Studies
University of Leeds
Leeds LS2 9JT
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E-mail: Phone: +44.113.233.6749
[log in to unmask] Fax: +44.113.233.3654
-=*=-
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/trs/trs.html
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"Excellencior enim est scriptura in mente viva quam in
pelle mortua" -Robert Grosseteste.
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