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Dear Friends,
I’m sure by now you have already made plans for tomorrow. Many of you will be celebrating with family and friends, continuing years long traditions. Maybe you will be doing something different for the first time this year. And for some, it may be just another day where you work to provide for your family.
Thanksgiving Day is a unique holiday to Americans that can be traced back to a feast between the Wampanoag Native Americans and the Pilgrims following their first harvest in the New World in October 1621. The holiday has been observed many ways in our country’s history. The First National Proclamation of Thanksgiving was given by the Continental Congress in 1777. George Washington designated Thursday, November 26, 1789, as a “National Day of Thanks” to observe the blessing God had bestowed on our nation’s new form of government under the Constitution. However, the holiday that we now have come to celebrate on the fourth Thursday of November is directly related to the actions of President Abraham Lincoln.
In the Fall of 1863, the nation was in the middle of the Civil War. Just a few months earlier, just over 7,000 Americans from the North and South were slain in fields and woods surrounding Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Despite a Union victory, Lincoln knew the war and its devastating costs would continue. In the midst of the horrible carnage of the Civil War, on October 3 of that year President Lincoln asked the people to set aside the last Thursday of November as a Day of Thanksgiving for the “gracious gifts of the Most High God” that the country had experienced throughout the year. He ended, in-part, with a call for people to pray for the “interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation.” You can read the full proclamation here.
Despite the difficulties our country faces today, it is still evident that we have plenty to be thankful for over this past year. Though many Americans are struggling and the nation is going through a chaotic and confusing time, we should still gather with our families to pray as Lincoln asked “for the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation.” So, no matter how you plan to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, take time to give thanks and pray for our nation.
Sincerely,
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