"Looking toward Thanksgiving Day, there are countless causes for thanks, not the least of which is that our nation got off to a good start with so many honest people trying to establish a society respectful of God and his blessings."
"George Washington proclaimed the first Thanksgiving Day in 1789. He had not planned on being president, though he knew that many wanted him. In 1783 after resigning his command of the army at a farewell in Annapolis, he mounted his horse and rode back to Mount Vernon. When the American-born painter, Benjamin West, told King George III that Washington had given up his power, the general's old foe said, "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world."
And from Brad Miner:
"Every
fourth Thursday in November, We the People gather with family and
friends to celebrate Thanksgiving. Of course, there are in this New
Colossus some for whom the day is an affront: a few of “your tired, your
poor,/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,/The wretched
refuse” from wherever – but not like earlier immigrants. Now some are
huddled off in the proverbial corner: folks for whom liberty is just a
Statue. For multiculturalists it must be a sour day, because
Thanksgiving is all about e pluribus unum; about one free people unified despite their grievances.
Even
the people who would strike “under God” from the Pledge or remove “in
God we trust” from our currency pretty much leave Turkey Day alone,
because it’s our great secular holiday.
To
be sure, prayers are often a big part of the Big Meal. My Presbyterian
grandfather’s unvarying prayer was, “For that which we are about to
receive, may we be truly grateful,” to which my thoroughly irreligious
parents would give a hearty “Amen!”
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