Today is Thanksgiving, the most American of holidays. It is a day commemorated by families gathering for festive meals to celebrate the bounty of the earth and to share the blessings that we as individuals and as a nation enjoy. Americans, despite some vocal discourse to the contrary, have much to be thankful for this year.
Each of us and the nation, in the main, have freedom and opportunity unknown in many locales around the world. We, for the most part, are a hale, hearty and prosperous bunch. We remain more united by our commonalities and dreams than divided by the tumult that is essential to a functioning democracy. For that, we are especially thankful.
Still, the United States confronts difficult issues here and abroad this Thanksgiving Day. The world is besieged by terrorists and the evil they espouse. American men and women continue to wage open and sometimes secretive wars in defense of the ideals that are the foundation of American freedom. Those battles and the policies that support them sometimes pit citizen against citizen and threaten long-standing diplomatic alliances. Thankfully, though, there is an overall unity of spirit and like-mindedness among Americans that allows the United States to remain a beacon of hope to the oppressed of the world.
Within the nation's borders, the picture is mixed as well. Far too many individuals and families do not fully share the American vision. The economy, of late, has been on a roller coaster ride that threatens the broad economic growth and the middle-class jobs with benefits that traditionally underpin American society. Instead, we have an economy where a tiny handful at the top of the economic scale do extraordinarily well while those on the lower end must struggle mightily to provide the basics - food, shelter, health care - for loved ones. That must change.
Despite the difficult issues that confront the United States, there are substantial grounds to take today's holiday and the notion of giving thanks to heart today. Americans, despite it all, still are remarkably free and uncommonly generous and charitable. More often than not, we rise above political and social differences to share our bounty and to help those who find themselves in onerous circumstances. Most work diligently to improve life within the United States and to spread the gospel of individual freedom and equality around the globe.
Thanksgiving, of course, is not a new holiday. Indeed, it is rooted in ancient times when a good harvest was celebrated because it meant survival in the harsh winter to come. America's Thanksgiving is rooted in the early 17th century and the Plymouth Colony. That's when, history and legend tell us, Gov. William Bradford called for a day of public celebration by the colonists - joined by Indians who helped them - to mark the settlement's first successful harvest. That is the origin of today's national celebration.
It's not always been so. For years, almost every community had either harvest festivals or thanksgiving feasts. But there was no unanimity about the date. George Washington once proclaimed an official Thanksgiving Day, but it was an isolated event. It was years before the holiday on a fixed date became custom.
The modern-day tradition harks back to Abraham Lincoln. During the Civil War, Lincoln wanted to unite a battle-weary nation. He found it, he believed, when he chose the last Thursday of November as "a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens." Though not written into law, Lincoln's proclamation became de facto legislation. All presidents who followed him issued similar designations until Congress made Thanksgiving an official holiday in 1941.
The long-standing Thanksgiving Day tradition embodied in law a lifetime ago continues to grow in popularity and meaning. Thanksgiving weekend is the most heavily traveled of the year, experts say, with tens of millions taking to the roads, rails and air to share time and food with family and friends. The form that these celebrations take is not uniform. Many plan or engage in seasonal shopping or play or watch sports. Others turn to their churches, synagogues, mosques or temples for solace and to offer prayers for peace and safekeeping. The latter is especially true for those whose loved ones are in uniform or otherwise in the service of the nation around the world. Mainly, though it is a day for families and friends to share time and tradition in the way they believe best marks a day of Thanksgiving.
However the day is celebrated, Thanksgiving Day remains uniquely American. We use it to express love of family and nation (and, yes, food) and to espouse the belief that prejudice tied to race, culture or heritage contradicts American principles. For all that, we should give thanks - today and every day.