When I was in elementary and high school, not many years ago, Thanksgiving was one of the most exciting times of the school year. It was dramatic in every way. Little boys and girls, as well as middle school and high school students, enjoyed their re-enactment of the first Thanksgiving in America.

We all had a part to play. The Pilgrims, who had come from England, are usually pictured as wearing black and white clothing. Their hats and haircuts were unusual, and their speech was nothing like it is today. Our teachers directed us in those productions. Some of us became the friendly American Indians, the people who were here before our ancestors arrived.

It has been a predominantly religious observance from day one. The Pilgrims celebrated their first Thanksgiving after some difficult months had caused serious hardships.

It was not an easy time. It was 388 years ago, in the autumn of 1621, that the first Pilgrim Thanksgiving was observed. William Bradford, governor of the Plymouth colony, a zealous Puritan and sincere Christian, led them in this expression of genuine gratitude.

Bradford instructed the men, women and children to gather at the meetinghouse between the hours of 9 and 12 in the morning. They were to listen to their pastor and offer their thanksgiving to Almighty God. There was also singing of hymns and psalms and time for prayers.

It was a religious service, as every Thanksgiving observance should be. Bradford included these words in his famous historical work of 1647, "Of Plymouth Plantation": "Last and not least, they cherished a great hope and inward zeal of laying good foundations, or at least making some ways toward it, for the propagation and advance of the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in the remote parts of the world, even though they should be but stepping stones to others in the performance of so great a work."

This can be found in "America's God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations" by William J. Federer. Every teacher, pastor, parent, student and politician should have this classic work.

This week, I heard Jeffrey A. Johnson, the author of the excellent new book, "Got Style?," express doubt that our Thanksgiving Day, the one Christian religious holiday originating in America, could survive as we have known it sandwiched in between the extravagant commercialization of Halloween and Christmas.

It seems that one is becoming increasingly pagan and that we are forgetting that Jesus Christ is the only reason for the Christmas season. It will be impossible to have a Merry Christmas if Christ is not the central figure in it all.

Johnson called us all to practice "Thanks Living." He added, ""If you are grateful, do something to show it."

President Abraham Lincoln, in the midst of the Civil War, issued this proclamation in 1863.

"The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessing of fruitful field and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they came, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God."

This proclamation established Thanksgiving Day as a national holiday. Lincoln proclaimed the fourth Thursday of November to be the official "National Thanksgiving Day." Congress finally ratified this day in 1941.

Words uttered long before the first Thanksgiving remind us: "Be thankful to him, and bless his name" (Psalm 100:4).

Bill Ellis, former pastor of Peoples Church of God in Decatur, is a syndicated columnist. Contact him at bill@billellis.net or Box 345, Scott Depot, WV 25560-0345.