adminAs we once again celebrate Thanksgiving, our hearts well up with gratefulness for our Creator who provides all things for His children. I thought perhaps this year we should take a few moments and reflect on the beginning of this great holiday. Let’s start with an awesome poem on the subject!
The Twenty-Fourth Psalm
By Margaret Rorke
“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,”
Sang the psalmist in worship of old.
And the pilgrims used this as their paean of love
On Thanksgiving, so we have been told.
They were thankful for life. They were thankful for food.
They were thankful for finding this sod.
Here their people could be where the worship was free;
For all this they were thankful to God.
On this day when we pause, when we gather to feast,
When we’re counting our labor’s rewards,
It is well we recall what’s oft lost with the least:
That the earth and its gifts are the Lord’s.
-Ideals Vol 58, No.5 p.52
THE FIRST THANKSGIVING
“The First New England Thanksgiving. The first American Thanksgiving was celebrated less than a year after the Plymouth colonists had settled in the new land. The first dreadful winter in Massachusetts had killed nearly half of the members of the colony. But new hope grew up in the summer of 1621. The corn harvest brought rejoicing. Governor William Bradford decreed that a three-day feast be held.
“The first Thanksgiving Day, set aside for the special purpose of prayer as well as celebration, was decreed by Governor Bradford for July 30, 1623.
“The women of the colony spent many days preparing for the feast. The children helped by turning roasts on spits in front of open fires. Native Americans brought wild turkeys and venison (Deer meat). The men of the colony brought geese, ducks and fish. The women served the meat and fish with journey cake, corn bread with nuts, and succotash. Everyone ate outdoors at big tables.”
-World Book Encyclopedia 1962 p.180
“Although Thanksgiving did not become an official national holiday until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln declared that it be celebrated on the last Thursday of each November, it was President George Washington who first realized a need for the nation to set aside a day dedicated to prayer, supplication, and gratitude for our country’s and our families’ blessings. Washington’s proclamation was made in 1789, more than 160 years after the Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving in the New World.
GEORGE WASHINGTON’S THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION
Oct 3, 1789
“Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanks-giving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God…
“Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be….”
- Condensed from Ideals Magazine Vol 56 No. 5 p.44
The Greater Wealth
By Mary E. Linton
With humble gratitude and pride I lift
My eyes to heaven, thankful for the gift
Of this broad land, my country, and my home.
No other place beneath blue heaven’s dome
Holds in its lap such riches and such power.
It is so good to be alive this hour!
Dear God, let this sink deep into my soul.
In this one moment let the years unroll,
Throbbing their full significance; my part
Outlined in glorious pattern on my heart.
I want to give part of myself, my own
Soul’s fiber for this land that I have known.
For I was hungry and it gave me meat,
The deeper hunger in my heart’s white heat
Found music, art, and laughter, yes, and tears,
With which to march triumphant down the years.
Great God and Master of our noble land,
I stand alert with courage in my hand.
Help me with liberty from life’s rich store
To “lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
“A thoughtful mind . . . sees not the flag only, but the nation itself . . . the principles, the truths, the history.” Henry Ward Beecher
-ibid p.47
History relates how the Pilgrims had gone through many hardships. They had lost countless loved ones: they had almost starved but God had seen them through. They survived! Not only that but they had an abundant harvest. The natives joined them in this heartfelt celebration. All of their hearts were filled with gratefulness to Almighty God.
There are a lot of hardships going on right now in America. Many people have lost their jobs. Others have lost their homes. Some have lost their loved ones. Heartache for so many of our brothers and sisters are all around us. However, America was founded on thankfulness to Almighty God! The Bible tells us that if we stop worrying but go to God in prayer with thanksgiving in our hearts, we will have God’s peace encompass us!
The Peace of God is so precious. Have you ever tried to be truly thankful and entertain anger, despair or anxiety at the same time? It is not possible! When we thank God during every crisis as well as the good times, His Peace fills us.
“…but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:6-7
“Our favorite attitude should be gratitude.” (Author unknown)
HAPPY THANKSGIVING