Dear friend,
As we approach this coming Thanksgiving, many are wondering what we have to truly be thankful for, especially considering some of the horrible things happening in the world right now. With the recent attack on Israel by the terrorist organization Hamas, a 388 percent rise of antisemitic incidents, budget-busting prices, and wages that have not kept up with costs of goods, it is understandable why some might have these questions.
I can truly say we still have much to be thankful for and I believe that the USA remains the greatest country in the world with the most freedoms and opportunities for all. As I reflected on this, I thought of the very first presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation issued by George Washington.
Overall, it had a simple message that as a country, as Americans, we should have a national day we gave thanks to the ‘Almighty’ for his care of Americans and assistance in helping them achieve independence and establishing a constitutional government.
Historically, President Washington would order special services of thanks for his troops after successful battles, and colonists would establish ‘Thank Days’ throughout the year to emphasize prayer and spiritual reflection. But on October 3, 1789, Washington issued a proclamation designating Thursday, November 26 as a National Day of Thanks.
You can read the full proclamation here. In it, Washington speaks of “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 he recommends a day of public thanksgiving and prayer. He continues on by speaking of being thankful for the “great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness,” and for civil and religious liberties.
My prayer this Thanksgiving is that we can all look inside our hearts and see our many blessings instead of focusing on our differences. I pray we can return to the day when we could have reasonable conversations about things we disagree on, and work on common sense solutions to the problems our world faces today. I pray we can see the good in each other, instead of focusing on what we don’t like about someone or a group of people.
Finally, my prayer is that you have a restful, thoughtful day of thanks surrounded by family and friends this coming Thursday.
Happy thanksgiving and God bless.
