Basic HTML Version
.,
.,
THANKSGIVING.DAY
What Should lt Mean To You?
To
many American• ThanksgMng
Day muns
sumpluous
lurkey dln·
ners,
famlly
reunions
1nd foolbB/1
g•mes. MoJI
seem lo
torget thet the
very
name
of thls lrad/1/ona/ hollday
m1ans lo
glv• lhanks. Bul glv1
lhanks
to
wflom!
For
wt>at?
And
wt>y?
I
n 1630 the liule 350-ton
Arbella was
plowing westward through the
rough Atlantic
10
the Massachuset!S
coast From i!S deck John Winthrop
preached a striking sermon that
accu·
rately predieted America's future.
"Wee shall be." propbesied Wiothrop.
"as a Ciuy upon
a
Hill. the Eies of all
people
are
uppon us:
soe
that
if
wee
.shall deale fal.sely with our god
io
this
worke wee have undertaken and soe
cause him to withdrawe bis present help
from us, wee shall be made a story and a
by·word througb the world."
Tbose are remarkable words! Tbey in· ·
dicate tbat at least some of tbe early
colonists scnsed that their eodeavors
were being favored by the hand ofOod.
Tbese early settlers seemed to grasp
thac they were being given very special·
opportunities. special blessings - and
special responsibilities. For a ll this, the
indications are, many were grateful.
Gocl
and
Thallks¡lving
Day
Tbe first "Thanksgiving Day" origi–
nated with the festival held by Plymouth
Colony in December 1621 in gratitude
for a successful harvest Tbe Pilgrims
from Englllnd bad landed at Plymouth
Rock
in
December 1620 and had en–
dured a. hard year. On that first
' 'Thanksgiving Day" they thanked Ood
that !bey were still a
ti
ve and had food to
6
by
E
u
gene
·waHer
eat. Sorne of the Pilgrims recognizec:l
God
as
the source of their blessings.
Tbey held that first "'Thanksgiving
Da
y"
in gratitude and praise
to
God.
Maoy
Americans have forgotten this. Many
probably don't even
think
of God on
Thanksgiving Day. much less actually
pray
to him and g.ve thanks.
For too many Americans, Tbanksgiv–
ing Day has become just another holi·
day on which friends and family come
together to glut them.selves with too
much food and drink. God is len out of
the pieture. He is not acknowledged as
the
sour~e
of all blessings; yet, the Bib1e,
God's inspired Word, says. "Every good
gin and every perfect gil\ is from above,
and cometh down from !he Father of
lights, with whom is no variableness.
neither shadow of turning" (James
1:17). Christ himself said. spealdng of
God the Father, "He makes bis sun to
rise on tbe evil and on tbe good. and
sends rain on the just and on the unjust"
(Matt.
5:45,
RSV).
Even though many may not really be–
lieve it, God is the
source
or their life
and every
good
thing !bey enjoy. God
blesses even the 'l'ieked with many of
tbe basic necessities oflife.
From the genuino gratitude or the
first Tbanksgiving Day. tbe real mean·
ing of this festival has graduaUy deterio–
rated throughout American nistory.
Tbe History
ofTIJa4sgivlng
Remember. in 1621 the first American
tbanksgiving was held by P1ymouth col–
ony.
lt
was observed in gratitude for the
ending of a difficult year anda bountiful
harvest The native foods - frui!S and
vegetables, wild turkeys, pumpkins and
such - constituted tbe fare of tbat first
thanksgiving day and became !he tradi–
tional food for the da
y.
In succeeding years, chanksgiving fes–
tivals became very popular in
New
England . The colonists celebrated
thanksgiving days in recognition of
such
happy even!S as good harvests and
vio-
tones over 1ndians.
·
During the 19th century, an increas–
ing number of states observed the day
annuaUy. each appointing its
own
date.
As
Amenca grew, there was ever more
10
be thankful for.
In
che years thal had
passed since John Winthrop's prophetlc
sermon, America had truly become the
"Ciuy upon a Hill"
As
the Civil War
ended. the downtrodden masses or the
world 1ooked expeetaotly to America
as
the new land of hope and opportunity.
lmmigraots from many lands arrived
on
American shores to try to catch the
American dream.
Presidential Proclamations
Tbanksgiving Day has been preserved
and
passed
on to us by Presiden!S wbo
believed
in
God and the Bible
as
the
source or national greatness and integ–
rity. George Washington in 1789 issued
the firsc presidential thanksgiving pro<>
lamation in honor of the new Constitu–
tion. He said,
"lt
is impossible lo rightly
govem tbe world witbout Ood aod the
Bible."
How many Americans really believe
this and give God tbanks for tbe Bible?
SadiJ: mast Americans don't even read
the Bible. Tbcy certainly don't acknowl–
edge itas Ood's inspired Word by which
Presiden!S should rule nations.
f"
leader of a nation sbould study the
laws
of !he Bible to be able to
properly
and wise1y rule. Abraham Linooln be·
lieved this. He said, "1 believe the Bíblc
is
the best gift Ood has ever given fo
man. All the good from the Savior ofthe
world is cornmunicatcd to us through
thisbook...
He.knew tbat material prosp<,:rity
was
bnng.ng the problems and pttfalls thát
John Winthrop had so vividly foreseen.
Uacoln's
&lber
Warning
"We fil]d ourselves," Lincoln said, "in
the peaceful possession of the fairest
'portion of the earth. as regards fertility
of soil extent of territory. aod salubrity
of climate .•.. We ... find ourselves the
legal inheritors or these fundamental
blessings. We toilcd no! in the acquire–
ment or the establishment ofthem."
On Apri.l
30.
1863. Presiden! Lincoln
proclaimed a national
da
y of fasting and
prayer.
In
making tltis proclamation he
said :
"lt
is the duty of nations, as weU as of
men, to own their dependence upon !he
overruling
power
of God ... and to rec–
ogniu the sublime trutb, announced in
the Holy Scriptures and proven by all
history, that !hose nations only
are
blessed whose God is !he Lord.... We
have
been
tbe recipicnts of the choicest
blessings of beaven. We bave been
pre–
servod, these many years. in peace and
prosperity. We have grown in numbers,
weahh and power as no other nation
ever has grown;
BUT WE UAVE
EO~GOT·
TEN
Goo! We bave forgotten the gra–
cious·Hand whi<:b preserved us
in
peace,
and multiplied arid enrichcd and
stren~thened
us; and we have vainly
imag.ned. in !he deceitfulness of our
hearts. that aU tbese blessings were pro–
duoed by sorne superior wisdom and vir,
tuc ofour own."
Presiden! Linooln saw a nation drunk
with suaxss
oot
due to its own elfons.
He uw a nation taldng
aU
the credit and
glory to itself. This great Presiden!
caUed
upon the natlon for a day of fast–
ing and prayCT to confess this national
sin before God.
Later that same year, on October
3,
Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of
November
as
Thanksgi,v'ing Oay - a
day to give tbanks to God for the muJ.
titudinous blessiogs he bad bestowed.
(roday Thanksgiving Day is observed
on the fourtl\ Thursday ofNovember
as
se! by Congress in December 1941.)
Ameriu's
Createst Years
-andNow
In the years that followed Lincoln,
America rose to become the greatest
single power and the most wealthy na–
tion thtS world has ever known.
At.the z.enith of her power, America's
six percent of the world's population
posscssed sorne
SO
percent of the world's
wealth.
In
commodity after commodity
and in prodw:t after product America
led the world.
But today Amcrica is tom
by
strifc
and dissension. We have oo national
goal. We have recklessly squandered our
fabuknJS wealth a.nd indescribably pol·
luted our beautifulland.
Oreed, selfishness aod ingratitude
form the
warp
aod woof ofsociety. "Has
tbe American Dream become the Amer–
ican damnatioo. a formula for
self.
1
WI!EK ENDINO NOVEMBER
22, 1915
1