Unveiling the Light

Happy Thanksgiving!

Perhaps this is the year to return to the true meaning of the Thanksgiving holiday. Yes, we do commemorate the pilgrims and the beginning of a society that is today the United States of America, but the meaning of the source and goal of the holiday is not found with these early settlers. Thanksgiving was begun by one of our greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln, in 1863. In the midst of what was perhaps the bloodiest civil war this world had seen, President Lincoln held out this holiday as a means to have hope and to unite this country when it was most divided.

He acknowledged the terrible costs of the war which pitted Americans against Americans but also pointed out many hopeful developments. Despite our obvious vulnerability, no foreign nation had begun to war against us. Our nation’s economy was moving into the industrial age, our crops were plentiful, oversea commerce was at an all time high and although there had been many setbacks, the scope of the war had been narrowed with the Mississippi again in Union hands. He saw that the end was at last imaginable and sought to begin the healing by giving all states, even those who had rebelled, a reason to celebrate. He especially wanted to provide healing for the millions of families who had suffered loss in the war. To do this he reached back to the beginnings of our civilization and found common ground in the early pilgrims.

This holiday was re-emphasized by President Roosevelt, especially as World War II drew to a close. Again it was unity and peace that was sought and a way to bring some healing to the many families and individuals who had suffered dearly in the war. In both the Civil War and World War II, many Americans would never return home again and many would do so with grievous wounds, physical and emotional. Families lost sons, fathers, brothers, daughters, sisters and mothers. It had to be emphasized that the cost was great but not without merit or reward. That reward would only be realized if we stayed together. Due to the unity we fought to achieve, the result of both wars and their horrible costs was a nation stronger than ever and more willing to face its responsibilities and to build a future.

Today, Thanksgiving remains a time for families to get together. The day prior is the most traveled day of the year as families reunite in their commonality. Unfortunately the idea of national unity has largely been loss. Instead it has been replaced by “Black Friday,� the busiest shopping day of the year that kicks off the start of the Christmas season. Few speak of a nation united, of any common goals or any common beginnings. Instead we have become a “diverse� nation where our differences are emphasized and groups are played against one another for political power. How different from the reasons the holiday was begun.

The source of our unified thanksgiving does not really lay with the pilgrims. Even when President Lincoln reached back to the pilgrims for common ground, most Americans were immigrants and a great many were recent immigrants. What Lincoln reached back to was the ideals on which this country was founded. Here there are no limits on the common man and here we are unbound by ancient feuds and traditions. In this country we are able to look forward to a brighter future and continue to work for a just society where all are equal in the law and in the eyes of the government. What binds us together are not the pilgrims but the ideals for which they came to this land. They are the ideals of freedom, economic success, and a new future. We continue to hold out this hope for all who today call themselves citizens of the United States.

Abraham Lincoln invoked a commonality in God, something we are afraid to speak of in this day and age. He listed our problems but overshadowed them with the gifts this country had received. Of the gifts he spoke,

"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. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens."

Today is the time for us to stop and realize that we are indeed blessed. We are the richest and most powerful society in the world. We enjoy increased life spans, better health and are one of the securest nations in the world, yet we always seem to be focused on the negative. We see conspiracy without evidence, conflict when there is more to be found in common, and we keep chasing greener pastors when the one in which we dwell is, perhaps, the greenest of all. Why not, this year, stand with our President of old, Abraham Lincoln, and join him in counting our blessings and thanking God for all He has done for us.

Then let us enjoy these gifts. We will not find the joy of them in the mall or shopping center and not in strained budgets and maxed out credit cards. We will find this joy when chatting in the kitchen as we prepare a family meal, playing in the yard with the kids, telling our spouse how much they are loved, visiting lonely relatives and reaching out to our neighbors in need. Then we will realize just how blessed we are and perhaps we can slow down enough to enjoy this greenest of all pastors that God has gifted us.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and let that happiness and contentment drag on through the months that follow. God bless you one and all.