Thanksgiving
In 1863, after the bloody battles of Shiloh and Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for a national day of Thanksgiving. This year marks the 150th anniversary of that proclamation. The Thanksgiving address itself, penned by William Seward, is a recognition that much of what we have, we have not earned. That all Americans have been given certain blessings; some due to geography, some to history, and others seemingly from God. It reads, in part,
150 years later, we have treated this holiday cheaply. In our rush to make commodities of national celebrations, we have allowed it to become a precursor to the melee of Black Friday. It is a chance to fuel up before we set forth to fight each other on the grounds of shopping malls and box stores. It's a depressingly ironic way to treat a day that was set aside in the midst of a literal war, as Lincoln prepared to venerate the monuments raised at Gettysburg in commemoration of the lives lost there, and to ask us all to come to an understanding of one another, and a to work together to create a shared vision of what our nation and our society should be that we've turned it into a commercialized combat. And sadly, it seems to me, that this is a time when we need to pay more attention, rather than less, to what Lincoln seemed to have in mind when he made his proclamation.
This Thanksgiving, I hope we can recognize that we should spend the day in contemplation of what makes us thankful. I know that Amy and I have much to be grateful for this year. Ted is healing quickly. We've seen the support of friends and family and demonstrations of what we mean to them in simple gestures from providing a meal for us, to praying for us, to just being there while we worried. I hope that all of you can find something to be thankful for beyond a great deal on some bit of plastic or electronics that, frankly, neither you nor the recipient of the gift will value as much as you might the time you could have spent together instead of crusading through the stores. If I don't see you this holiday, please know that I am thankful for your support and well wishes, and that I hope that you have a happy, and perhaps even a contemplative, Thanksgiving day.
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.Beyond that recognition, there is a call for all Americans to jointly recognize these facts, and to stand united in gratitude, if nothing else, for these unearned, and certainly at the time, undeserved advantages.
150 years later, we have treated this holiday cheaply. In our rush to make commodities of national celebrations, we have allowed it to become a precursor to the melee of Black Friday. It is a chance to fuel up before we set forth to fight each other on the grounds of shopping malls and box stores. It's a depressingly ironic way to treat a day that was set aside in the midst of a literal war, as Lincoln prepared to venerate the monuments raised at Gettysburg in commemoration of the lives lost there, and to ask us all to come to an understanding of one another, and a to work together to create a shared vision of what our nation and our society should be that we've turned it into a commercialized combat. And sadly, it seems to me, that this is a time when we need to pay more attention, rather than less, to what Lincoln seemed to have in mind when he made his proclamation.
This Thanksgiving, I hope we can recognize that we should spend the day in contemplation of what makes us thankful. I know that Amy and I have much to be grateful for this year. Ted is healing quickly. We've seen the support of friends and family and demonstrations of what we mean to them in simple gestures from providing a meal for us, to praying for us, to just being there while we worried. I hope that all of you can find something to be thankful for beyond a great deal on some bit of plastic or electronics that, frankly, neither you nor the recipient of the gift will value as much as you might the time you could have spent together instead of crusading through the stores. If I don't see you this holiday, please know that I am thankful for your support and well wishes, and that I hope that you have a happy, and perhaps even a contemplative, Thanksgiving day.
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