Thread: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! :-)

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My prayer is that each one of you will be blessed this Thanksgiving day. May you know God's deep love for you and may we all be thankful for his blessings and for the blessings of our great nation.

Psalm 91

PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S THANKSGIVING DAY PROCLAMATION, OCTOBER 3, 1863.

Thanksgiving was first celebrated by the settlers at Plymouth in the Massachusetts colony in 1621 under the leadership of Governor William Bradford. Washington and Madison each issued a Thanksgiving proclamation once during their Presidencies. It was not until 1863, however, when Lincoln issued his Thanksgiving Day Proclamation that the holiday was established as a national annual event, occurring on the last Thursday of November. The first observance of the national holiday came one week after the dedication of the Soldiers National Cemetery at Gettysburg. The language of the proclamation is beautiful and marked by a rare felicity of expression:

"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 cannot fail to penetrate and soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the everwatchful 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 provoke their aggressions, 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 it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United Stated States to be affixed."

http://www.nps.gov/history/history/onli ... 2/sb2w.htm

Happy Thanksgiving

When people talk of "the way things used to be"...when they get nostalgic for the "good old days"...they often romanticize small town life. And you know what, they're RIGHT. Life wasn't perfect in my hometown of Mt. Vernon, Washington, but it had that rare spirit of community that's lacking in so many of our lives today. Cities are impersonal and the suburbs are sprawling...but in a small town you can really feel that warm and neighborly sense of "Americana." Especially at this time of year.

The Fourth of July gets all the attention as the most "American" holiday, but Thanksgiving should be right up there alongside it. It was our first holiday in the first settlement on the American continent...our new home. It was the beginning of a very long journey that we're still on, and if there's on thing we learned from that Thanksgiving way back when, it's this: we just won't make it unless we realize that we're all in this together. We needed help from the Native Americans and the generously gave it to us. Now, we need help...from each other.

Our country has seen the kind of trouble we're now facing just a few times in our history--the last was back during World War Two. There were evil forces set on destroying us and dominating the world, and we were victorious over them--not only through our strength and courage on the battlefield, but also due to our ability to keep the home fires burning. Just think of the "can do" spirit embodied in the image of "Rosie the Riveter." She was painted by Norman Rockwell...an artist born in New York City who grew to know a thing or two about small town living. He lived in Arlington, Vermont and later in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Small town life fostered a strong communal feeling in Norman, a feeling of connectedness he drew upon one night in 1941.

As he sat in his studio listening to a scratchy little radio, he heard the words of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. FDR was trying to encourage Americans, saying we would all survive the dark days because we were united under our freedoms. Rockwell took those words to heart as he created possibly his most famous paintings. They took him seven months to complete and he was so focused he lost 15 pounds in the process. They've come to be known as the "Four Freedoms" series--paintings based on the goals famously articulated by President Roosevelt. I believe those goals are just as worth striving for today as they were over 60 years ago.



Freedom of speech was the first painting in the series—it features a simple man in working clothes standing up at a stately town meeting...expressing an unpopular opinion but having the full attention of his neighbors...everyone respecting his right to speak his piece.



Freedom to Worship was the second--Rockwell said the subject matter made it the hardest to paint. In it he shows men and women...black and white...Christian and Jew...all praying to their own God in their own way. Some heads bowed and some looking up toward the heavens.



Then there's Freedom from Want, also known as The Thanksgiving Dinner. It shows the many generations in one family lovingly gathered around a bountiful table...mouths watering at the sight of a glorious turkey. Strong families are the foundation of our society, and Rockwell captured that beautifully in this depiction of loved ones sharing a meal and celebrating one another.



Lastly, we have Freedom from Fear...a father and mother tucking in their children for a night's sleep. In the father's hand is a newspaper with reports of bombings. This portrait is as timely today as it was during World War Two. I believe what it most speaks to is our desire for safety--not so much for ourselves, but for our children...the generation who'll inherit the problems we so desperately need to solve.

So as we think about the state of our nation and the challenges we face, I hope we can remember the faces in Norman Rockwell's paintings and the values those small town Americans held so dear. We must never forget that that what truly unites us is our freedoms. Those freedoms were granted to us by God -- we only lend them to the government.

As we prepare to stuff ourselves and catch up with uncles and cousins we haven't seen since last year, try to remember that these are our good old days. If Norman Rockwell were alive today, he'd still be able to find the wholesome spirit in America in the scenes and settings we probably take for granted (maybe he was just better at looking). These days do try our patience and our resolve, but if we can keep in our minds that we're all in this together...that no matter what else we are Americans first, last and always...we'll make it through the darkest storm. So give thanks, love one another and lend a hand when you can. And save me a drumstick...

Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving,
glenn beck