Psalm 105:1-2
"O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known
his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all
his wondrous works."
Each year, as do many of you, I try to make Thanksgiving a time of
remembrance through the reading of scripture. Last year, I researched the
history behind a day set aside for Thanksgiving. Though many presidents have
made declarations, and the actual day changed through time, one thing remains,
proclamation or not, we have much to be grateful for as a nation. I am
humbled by how much I take for granted in my own life.
"Every good and perfect gift is from above." James 1:17. Shame on me
for my lack of gratitude for things like freedom, protection as a country daily provided by our men and women in service, God's daily grace and protection, food, warmth, health, family, friendship, God's mercy,
most of all, by providing Salvation through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross.
This proclamation was written and given during the
midst of the Civil War. President Lincoln recognized that there was much to be
grateful for, even in the midst of a heart-wrenching and deadly war. Last
Thanksgiving, in addition to reading verses, we read this proclamation. Like the
pilgrims, even in the middle of strife, trouble, and hardships, there was much to remember and praise
God for in His abundant mercies. I hope you will be touched by President Lincoln's words as much as I was...
A Proclamation.
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.
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 theatre of military conflict; while that
theatre 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
plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe 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 battle-field; 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, 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 Third day of
October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three,
and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.
By the President: Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward,
Secretary of State
Psalm 95:1-6
"O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to
the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make
a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King
above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength
of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed
the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before
the Lord our maker."
Happy Thanksgiving!
Blessings, Dear Friends!
Heather
