A SEASON OF GRATITUDE
In the United States, the holiday that dominates many people’s thinking in November is Thanksgiving. Its beginnings are steeped in myth and misinformation, but when you cut through the clutter of different points of view of what really happened in the Plymouth Colony in the fall of 1621, an important principle remains. It is this: two diverse groups of people joined together in a time of feasting and celebration.
The two groups could have hardly been more diverse. One group, Puritans from England, were seeking safety from persecution in the land of their nativity, and sought an opportunity for a new start in a new land. The other group, the Wampanoag Confederacy of Native Americans, were suddenly confronted with a group of strangers in their ancestral territory. The newcomers had a different culture, language, and values.
About half of the newcomers died of starvation and exposure during the first winter after their arrival. Among other indiscretions, they stole whatever cached food they could find that the natives had set aside for their own survival. Yet, the natives and the newcomers came into alliance with each other, and got along with each other, as demonstrated by the three-day feast they held at harvest time in 1621. Even though their trust was betrayed in later years, it was an example of how people from differing groups could not only accommodate one another, they could actually benefit from their mutual agreement.
I believe this is a lesson we would all do well to remember, especially as we anticipate assembling with family and friends during the holiday season. Over four hundred years ago, Massasoit, the leader of the Native Americans, and John Carver, the first governor of the Plymouth Colony, could overcome their respective differences and sit down to eat at the same table. Surely, we can gather with our family members to enjoy a holiday meal without becoming involved in strife and debate about politics, sports, or some other distraction.
Thanksgiving has been a theme since the very beginning of our country.
After a new nation formed from the colonies that were developed from the first European settlements, the first President, George Washington, made the following proclamation in 1789 regarding a day of thanksgiving:
Abraham Lincoln, in the midst of the cataclysmic convulsion known as the Civil War, made this proclamation in October, 1863:
A more recent declaration regarding Thanksgiving is this one, from President John F. Kennedy in 1963:
I find it fascinating that even the chief executives of the country, in different ages and from different political persuasions, thought it was important to appeal to people to render thanks to God for His involvement in our nation as well as in our individual lives. In all three cases I cited above, the respective Presidents asked that we give thanks to God for His providential oversight of our country.
One of the first things that should be on our minds every day is to be thankful to God for the unmistakable blessings we enjoy as a people and as individuals. In fact, I believe we should be the most thankful people on earth. Unfortunately, in many cases, people have become so self-obsessed that they complain about advantages and benefits of which ancient kings and emperors could not even dream of having.
Instead of complaining about what we may not have, I encourage everyone to follow the advice President Washington gave us—that we find ourselves “…acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God….”
Or, we could follow President Lincoln’s encouragement to “…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.”
In addition, we can follow President Kennedy’s prescription to “…gather in sanctuaries dedicated to worship and in homes blessed by family affection to express our gratitude for the glorious gifts of God….”
For a believer, Thanksgiving Day is not just a November holiday, but a way of life for every day in every season. May your Thanksgiving Day be filled with the acknowledgment of the blessings of God, and may your thanksgiving continue all year long!
Yours for the Harvest,
Dr. Rod Parsley
Founder & General Overseer
The two groups could have hardly been more diverse. One group, Puritans from England, were seeking safety from persecution in the land of their nativity, and sought an opportunity for a new start in a new land. The other group, the Wampanoag Confederacy of Native Americans, were suddenly confronted with a group of strangers in their ancestral territory. The newcomers had a different culture, language, and values.
About half of the newcomers died of starvation and exposure during the first winter after their arrival. Among other indiscretions, they stole whatever cached food they could find that the natives had set aside for their own survival. Yet, the natives and the newcomers came into alliance with each other, and got along with each other, as demonstrated by the three-day feast they held at harvest time in 1621. Even though their trust was betrayed in later years, it was an example of how people from differing groups could not only accommodate one another, they could actually benefit from their mutual agreement.
I believe this is a lesson we would all do well to remember, especially as we anticipate assembling with family and friends during the holiday season. Over four hundred years ago, Massasoit, the leader of the Native Americans, and John Carver, the first governor of the Plymouth Colony, could overcome their respective differences and sit down to eat at the same table. Surely, we can gather with our family members to enjoy a holiday meal without becoming involved in strife and debate about politics, sports, or some other distraction.
Thanksgiving has been a theme since the very beginning of our country.
After a new nation formed from the colonies that were developed from the first European settlements, the first President, George Washington, made the following proclamation in 1789 regarding a day of thanksgiving:
“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 favor—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 public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many 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 26th 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…
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 public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually….”
Abraham Lincoln, in the midst of the cataclysmic convulsion known as the Civil War, made this proclamation in October, 1863:
“The year that is drawing towards 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 even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God…
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, tranquility and Union.”
For many years, Thanksgiving was celebrated the last Thursday in November. That changed in 1939 when the last Thursday in November fell on the last day of the month. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a proclamation designating Thanksgiving to be the second to last Thursday of November. Some states complied, while other states continued to regard the previous date. To avoid confusion, Congress decided at the end of 1941 to declare the fourth Thursday in November to be the national Thanksgiving holiday.
A more recent declaration regarding Thanksgiving is this one, from President John F. Kennedy in 1963:
“Today we are…a nation enjoying the fruits of an ever-expanding agriculture and industry and achieving standards of living unknown in previous history. We give our humble thanks for this.
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.
Let us therefore proclaim our gratitude to Providence for manifold blessings--let us be humbly thankful for inherited ideals--and let us resolve to share those blessings and those ideals with our fellow human beings throughout the world.
Now, Therefore, I, John F. Kennedy, President of the United States of America, in consonance with the joint resolution of the Congress approved December 26, 1941, 55 Stat. 862 (5 U.S.C. 87b), designating the fourth Thursday of November in each year as Thanksgiving Day, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 28, 1963, as a day of national thanksgiving.
On that day let us gather in sanctuaries dedicated to worship and in homes blessed by family affection to express our gratitude for the glorious gifts of God; and let us earnestly and humbly pray that He will continue to guide and sustain us in the great unfinished tasks of achieving peace, justice, and understanding among all men and nations and of ending misery and suffering wherever they exist.”
I find it fascinating that even the chief executives of the country, in different ages and from different political persuasions, thought it was important to appeal to people to render thanks to God for His involvement in our nation as well as in our individual lives. In all three cases I cited above, the respective Presidents asked that we give thanks to God for His providential oversight of our country.
One of the first things that should be on our minds every day is to be thankful to God for the unmistakable blessings we enjoy as a people and as individuals. In fact, I believe we should be the most thankful people on earth. Unfortunately, in many cases, people have become so self-obsessed that they complain about advantages and benefits of which ancient kings and emperors could not even dream of having.
Instead of complaining about what we may not have, I encourage everyone to follow the advice President Washington gave us—that we find ourselves “…acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God….”
Or, we could follow President Lincoln’s encouragement to “…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.”
In addition, we can follow President Kennedy’s prescription to “…gather in sanctuaries dedicated to worship and in homes blessed by family affection to express our gratitude for the glorious gifts of God….”
For a believer, Thanksgiving Day is not just a November holiday, but a way of life for every day in every season. May your Thanksgiving Day be filled with the acknowledgment of the blessings of God, and may your thanksgiving continue all year long!
Yours for the Harvest,
Dr. Rod Parsley
Founder & General Overseer