As we prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday, it is good to take time to reflect and acknowledge to whom, and for what we are to be thankful.
The first Thanksgiving feast took place in the fall of 1621. The Pilgrims had arrived the prior year and had lost nearly half of their population during the first winter. With the help of Squanto, an English speaking Native American, the Pilgrims had managed to produce a bountiful harvest and store of food to get them through the upcoming winter. The fest was proclaimed to give thanks to God for the provision that He had provided, and to pray for God's continued blessing through the approaching winter.
Our American national holiday started with a proclamation from President George Washington which is worth reading in its entirety, but due to space limitations, I will provide only a part of it:
"By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation, New York, Oct. 3, 1789
"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 the course and conclusion of the late war - for the great degree of tranquility, 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..."
Even though George Washington made this one-time proclamation, it is Abraham Lincoln that is credited with establishing Thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863. He wrote in part:
"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... No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things (the blessings of plenty of food and natural resources). They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God."
In the proclamation, President Lincoln went on to proclaim the day not only as a day of thanksgiving, but also a day of prayer for the nation which was still two years from the end of the Civil War.
So this Thanksgiving, let's remember who, (God Almighty), and for what, (His grace and provision), we are to be thankful. And remember that from its beginning, it was to be a day of prayer.
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