We are thankful to be Americans
Thanksgiving is a special holiday for us.
We have much for which to be thankful as we gather as a family, for turkey, conversation and celebration.
Both of us had the privilege of being raised in Christian families. The tradition of trust in God which accompanied our upbringing also included a large measure of thankfulness. Neither of our families would be considered wealthy, but we were well lodged in the middle class.
For both of us the fourth Thursday in November was the largest celebration our families would hold outside of Christmas and Easter.
Mary Beth can trace her lineage to the decks of the Mayflower and a hearty Pilgrim by the name of Issac Allerton. Allerton was one of the original Pilgrims that settled in the Plymouth Colony and celebrated the first Thanksgiving feast we replicate today.
The Pilgrims came to find freedom of worship. They wanted to build a “Shining City on a Hill” in this new land. Puritan leader and Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, John Winthrop wrote, “For we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. Soe that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword throughout the world.”
It was this idea on which America was founded. And America has jealously protected religious freedom even as the jaws of government have devoured so many others. We are thankful that today we will have the privilege to worship our God, and hold him high as our Master, Creator, Protector and Deliverer. We can do this alone or in assembly with other.
As sinful human beings, we are thankful that God sent his Son, Jesus Christ to earth to live a sinless life and then to be punished and killed as a sacrifice for your sins. We are thankful that God accepts this sacrifice and despite our own weakness and sin we can have the hope of eternal life with Christ Jesus.
This is our family tradition, and we are thankful these ideas were taught to us as young children and reinforced by loving families.
We are thankful we were born in a land that loves and protects freedom. We are blessed to be Americans.
It is Christ’s mandate to prepare for his return which motivates our work. We are thankful for that work. To sit every day before our keyboards and defend our heritage and values in the arena of ideas is an unparalleled privilege for which we are thankful.
Finally, we are thankful for our loyal readers. The commentary business can be lonely at times. As a critic of the established order we make many enemies and constantly have to deal with detractors which spam us, or re-write our Wikipedia, or worst of our detractors in the mainstream media that print fabrications about us in their supposed news stories.
Our loyal readers make it all worthwhile. Just when things seem tough we will have a jewel in our in box which restores our spirits such as the one that arrived this morning, “I haven’t got my Floyd Report(s) in a couple of days. I miss it…” Over the course of a year we receive hundreds of wonderful emails that bless us.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
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George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, 1789
[New York, 3 October 1789]
By the President of the United States of America. a Proclamation.
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–for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation–for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in thecourse and conclusion of the late war–for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed–for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted–for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.
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–to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed–to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness onto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord–To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us–and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand at the City of New-York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.
Go: Washington