That Uniquely American Holiday… Thanksgiving!

That Uniquely American Holiday… Thanksgiving!

Today we halt our busy lives, here in America, to offer Thanksgiving to Almighty God for His bountiful gifts over the past year.

It is especially poignant during time of war when Americans gather, as families, to offer our gratitude to God. Members of our families are in foreign lands, bearing arms, in an attempt to keep their families… and all Americans free. Free to be able to celebrate a Thanksgiving Day.

As far back as 1789 Our First President proclaimed a National Day of Thanks giving.

On October 3rd, 1789, President George Washington proclaimed:

”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 favour; 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 PUBLICK THANSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:" NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign 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 enable to establish Constitutions of government for our sasety 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 shewn 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. GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine. (signed) G. Washington”

You can find more on this at:
http://grove.ufl.edu/~leo/washington.html

Jefferson Davis, President Of the Confederate States of America proclaimed a National day of Humiliation and Prayer .

The Confederate States of America came into being February 4, 1861, one month before Lincoln's inauguration. The text of the first Thanksgiving Proclamation issued by the president of the Confederacy, is reproduced below.. This Proclamation was made two full years before Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation, which Lincoln made on October 3rd, 1863

A THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION, 1861

"WHEREAS, it hath pleased Almighty God, the Sovereign Disposer of events, to protect and defend us hitherto in our conflicts with our enemies as to be unto them a shield.
And whereas, with grateful thanks we recognize His hand and acknowledge that not unto us, but unto Him, belongeth the victory, and in humble dependence upon His almighty strength, and trusting in the justness of our purpose, we appeal to Him that He may set at naught the efforts of our enemies, and humble them to confusion and shame.
Now therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, in view of impending conflict, do hereby set apart Friday, the 15th day of November, as a day of national humiliation and prayer, and do hereby invite the reverend clergy and the people of these Confederate States to repair on that day to their homes and usual places of public worship, and to implore blessing of Almighty God upon our people, that he may give us victory over our enemies, preserve our homes and altars from pollution, and secure to us the restoration of peace and prosperity.
Given under hand and seal of the Confederate States at Richmond, this the 31st day of October, year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty one. By the President, JEFFERSON DAVIS"


Then there was Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation:

The sixteenth president's proclamation of October 3, 1863 was actually his third; he had issued proclamations in April 1862 and August 1863. The reason the following is usually considered to be the first modern presidential proclamation of Thanksgiving is that with it began an unbroken string of such acts, always setting a late-November date for the celebration.

THANKSGIVING DAY 1863 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA—A PROCLAMATION

"The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. 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 if, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this 3d day of October A.D. 1863"

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

There have been, of course, many more Presidential proclamations referencing Thanksgiving. But I think we would do well, to take a look at the document those men and women aboard the Mayflower signed as they "hove to" off the coast of America. It’s called the Mayflower Compact. This simple document made all the others possible. It also set the tone for a new country whose very existence is dependent on God.

Here is the Mayflower Compact:

"In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord, King James, by the Grace of God, of England, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, e&. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia; do by these presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid; And by Virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the General good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In Witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord, King James of England, France and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini, 1620."

There followed the signatures of 41 of the 102 passengers, 37 of whom were Separatists fleeing religious persecution in Europe. This compact established the first basis in the new world for written laws. Half of the colony failed to survive the first winter, but the remainder lived on and prospered.
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So, we have arrived at a day we have set aside for Thanksgiving in the year of our Lord 2006. Our nation remains at war and will, indeed, remain at war ...even if we bring our troops home from Iraq.

One of the things we, as a nation, should be thankful for this year is the fact that we have a standing military made up of the “creme de la creme” of America’s youth. All the men and women of our Armed Forces are Volunteers. Think of them today and give thanks that they saw their duty and are, in fact, doing it.

If one could make a list of things for which the nation should be thankful this Thanksgiving, it would reach around the world several times, I’m sure. But we can’t do that. Each person, each family has it’s own priorities and it’s own list of blessings for which to be thankful.

So, as we pull up our chairs at the dinner table, laden with all the abundance with which God has blessed this nation, let us take time to offer a prayerful thanks to God.

And if I may, I’d request that we all ask God not to withdraw his Arm of Protection from this nation. There will come a time, in the not too distant future, when that will be all between us and our enemies. Pray God that he continues to stand with America.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

Longstreet