Email from Rep. Palmer Happy Thanksgiving! Dear Friend, As people around our nation gather around dinner tables with friends, family, and loved ones to celebrate Thanksgiving, I am reminded of President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation. In 1863, the United States was in the middle of the Civil War. Even when division was at an all-time high, President Lincoln called upon the nation to celebrate a day of thanksgiving, praise, and prayer. He believed that a grateful nation was a stronger nation, and that acknowledging God’s provision helps unite us in purpose and hope. Take a moment and read this excerpt from the proclamation below: “I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.” The unfortunate truth is that we live in a fallen world. While our nation still wrestles with division and hardship, Thanksgiving calls us back to gratitude. This holiday reminds us that even in brokenness, we serve a steadfast, unchanging, and gracious God. Just as President Lincoln urged a weary nation to turn to prayer in 1863, we too can look to the Lord for healing, unity, and peace. “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Cry out, ‘Save us, O God our Savior; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, that we may glory in your praise.’ Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Then all the people said ‘Amen’ and ‘Praise the LORD.’ ” 1 Chronicles 16:34-36 From my family to yours, happy Thanksgiving. Sincerely, Gary Palmer If you wish to share your thoughts or comments regarding legislation, please email me using this link from my website or call our D.C. office at (202) 225-4921. Additionally, you can view my voting record and the bills I have sponsored and co-sponsored here. If you need help with a federal agency, please see if we can assist you by calling our district office at (205) 968-1290 or filling out this form on my website. Office of Rep. Gary Palmer | 170 Cannon House Building | Washington, DC 20515 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice