There’s a lot going on tomorrow. It is Thanksgiving Day!

First of all, there are not one or even two, but three NFL games.  That means that you can literally watch football all day long.  (“Let’s enjoy our big Thanksgiving meal in front of the TV!”)

Speaking of the Thanksgiving meal, lots of time and effort will be spent preparing the big feast.  Kudos to all those who prepare the big feast; that is a big job.  But have you ever noticed after hours and hours of preparation, once people sit down to eat, it’s all over within about twenty minutes?

And let’s not forget about preparations for the day after, Black Friday.  Plans need to be made about where you will shop and what time you will be at each gigantic sale.  How early will you get up to go get the sales before they run out?

Oh, and let’s not forget to find some time to give thanks. After all, it is Thanksgiving Day, isn’t it?  Or does that just get lost in the shuffle?

Things today in our culture here in the USA are a lot different than they were years ago.  We are not pilgrims living in Plymouth, and the year is not 1621.  Times have changed.

Speaking of the Pilgrims, there is a great lesson that they learned that I posted last year called, A Forgotten History Lesson.  http://confidenceandjoy.com/a-forgotten-history-lesson/  If you haven’t read it, it speaks pretty loudly to things going on in our world today.

Thanksgiving Day, now celebrated here in the USA on the fourth Thursday in November, has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when during the Civil War, on October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26.

Part of Lincoln’s proclamation stated:

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.

Years before, on October 3, 1789, President George Washington had a Thanksgiving Proclamation.  Part of what he stated was:

Now therefore, I do recommend and affirm Thursday the twenty-sixth day 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; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; 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 particularly the national one now lately instituted;– for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;– and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions;– to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Let’s enjoy whatever we do tomorrow, whether it’s football, a big feast or time with family.  But let’s also take a little time to reflect not only on the history and background of Thanksgiving Day, but on our loving and giving God.

Shouldn’t every day be a day of expressing some gratitude toward our heavenly Father?  Even if things in our lives at the moment may not be where we would like for them to be, are there not countless things we can remember to thank Him for?

And, as you read above in both proclamations, we really ought to pray for our country and ask God for His help.  His kindness and mercy has been extended to this great land for many, many years.  We can certainly ask Him to pardon us, and to continue to extend His kindness and mercy on our land.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving Day!

Mike Verdicchio
2011

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