I am so glad Thanksgiving comes around once a year. Of course, the earliest traditions of setting aside time for us as a country to give thanks go all the way back to our Pilgrim foreparents. From 1777 to 1784, the Continental Congress issued a Thanksgiving proclamation every year. It was during the Civil War in 1863, that President Abraham Lincoln declared that Thanksgiving would be a national holiday
It is so commendable that even during that terrible and painful war, we could pause to reflect on more than loss and grief, but also on gratitude. And here we are again with plenty of reason to worry about the future, to grieve our losses, and to complain about the state of affairs around us. In the middle of it all, we are called to turn November 24th into a day of gratitude!
A tradition in our house, and maybe in yours also, was to go around the Thanksgiving table and ask each person to identify one thing for which he/she was most thankful! As a child, there were times I thought those exercises were too “old fashioned” and trivial. Today, I believe that discipline is more essential than ever. I’ll go first: “I am very grateful that every one of you is in my life.”
Pastor Don Crist
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (II
Corinthians 9:15)