We are entering what is, to me, one of the most wonderful times of the year. Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and Christmas follows. And while the birth of Christ certainly and rightly receives the greater share of attention, Thanksgiving should certainly be no slouch in our attention.
George Washington declared: “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 … Now, therefore, I do appoint Thursday, the 26th day of November 1789 … that we may all unite to render unto him our sincere and humble thanks for his kind care and protection.”
Abraham Lincoln followed in 1863 by setting aside the last Thursday of November, declaring: “We are prone to forget the source from which the blessings of fruitful years and healthful skies come … 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 … I do, therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States … to observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.”
Truly, giving thanks to our God has been a wonderful part of the American DNA from our earliest days, and has been acknowledged all the way from the White House right on down to your house and my house. And that certainly fits with Scripture such as 1 Thessalonians 5:18: “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
May I then, please, give you a partial list of things for which I am thankful, some deeply spiritual, some downright practical?