The following edited post is from November 28, 2024

The psalmist declares:

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
 O give thanks to the God of gods,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
 O give thanks to the Lord of lords,
    for his steadfast love endures forever; (Psalm 136:1-3, NRSVUE)

The 14th century German mystic declared, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” Thankfulness is central to an understanding of the Providence of God. It mitigates against any presumption of self-sufficiency and reminds us that all good things come from the hand of God.

I am especially fond of the Thanksgiving holiday. I have so many pleasant memories of it from my childhood. It is a “religious” holiday by executive order, and everybody appreciates the day, even if one is not particularly observant. But the notion of giving thanks to the Creator is central to the culture of ancient Israel. Christians have adopted the same sentiment. This Thursday, November 27, is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. It is an observance with an interesting history.

Image by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris

American Thanksgiving currently falls on the fourth Thursday of November. The celebration is related to the first Thanksgiving, observed by the Pilgrims of Plymouth in 1621. The communal feast was allegedly prepared by Eleanor Billington, Elizabeth Hopkins, Mary Brewster, and Susanna White—the four adult Pilgrim women whom survived their first harsh winter in the new world. (Source: Wikipedia).

On October 3, 1863, just after the bloody Battle of Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln issued a Thanksgiving Proclamation. The proclamation was actually written by Lincoln’s Secretary of State, William Seward.

I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, …to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving... And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him …, 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 Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.

The 1863 proclamation came to be viewed as the beginning of the modern Thanksgiving celebration until the FDR Administration.

“Discussion about changing the date arose during President Roosevelt’s first year in the White House when the last Thursday was the fifth Thursday, November 30, 1933. This late date upset the Depression-ravaged business community, which foresaw fewer profitable holiday shopping days, as many Americans waited to start their Christmas purchases until after Thanksgiving. FDR chose to continue with the last Thursday of the a month until 1939 when he moved Thanksgiving to November 23. Not everyone was pleased by this change and the holiday was humorously dubbed “Franksgiving.” For the next two years, some states celebrated on the 23rd and others on the 30th. Finally, Congress passed a law setting the fourth Thursday of November as the official holiday every year” (Source: website of Roosevelt House, Public Policy Institute at Hunter College).

It might be of interest to note that Thomas Jefferson was not keen on celebrating a day of thanksgiving, considering the “giving thanks” part as being too religious for his tastes.

In my congregation, as with many Protestant churches, we rise to sing “the doxology” each week as we receive and dedicate the offering. The word comes from the Greek doxologia, “praise or glory.” There are many doxologies in the Bible. The traditional one is the text of Psalm 100:

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness;

come into his presence with singing.

Know that the Lord is God.

It is he that made us, and we are his;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

and his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him, bless his name.

For the Lord is good;

his steadfast love endures forever,

and his faithfulness to all generations.

Thanksgiving as a holiday is not exclusively religious, but it is a good reminder that humans are not entirely self-sufficient. And whether one believes in a Deity or not, the day is a time to consider that none of us is an island. Americans love their sense of individualism, but much of that is mystical and without foundation. Mark Twain observed that the “self-made man is like the “self-laid egg.”

We are likely in for some difficult days ahead, and it might just be that we come to rely on one another even more readily than we are inclined at this moment. I know that I have stood on the shoulders of some passionate and generous folks in my life—and so have you!

If we have learned anything this year, it is that we belong to one another in a profound way. The great G.K. Chesterton once observed, “We men and women are all in the same boat, upon a stormy sea. We owe to each other a terrible and tragic loyalty.” (Volume 28 of The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton).

Let us pause, if but for a moment, and recall that our blessings—whatever they might be—are both abundant and perhaps undeserved. But they are ours by the Providence of the High and Holy One—no matter what Jefferson says!