Tag Archives: Lincoln

Giving Thanks!

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Happy Thanksgiving!,

“Alleluia!

I will thank the Lord with all my heart, in the meeting of the just and the assembly. Great are the works of the Lord, to be pondered by all who delight in them

You give food to those who revere you; you are mindful of your covenant forever. You have shown mighty works to your people by giving them the heritage of nations!” Psalm 111

Thanksgiving 2020! This will be a holiday that few will ever forget! A national holiday taking place during a deadly worldwide pandemic, in the midst of political turmoil, and a worsening economy! Yet, we would do well to remember this holiday, it’s roots and how it has developed. And why we should celebrate it.

The first recorded celebration of a day of Thanksgiving was said to be by the small group of Pilgrims at Plymouth colony. We forget that they were a religious group, dissenters of the Church of England, persecuted by officials of the Crown. They came to America, not for economic reasons, but for religious freedom. They found their way to Massachusetts Bay by accident. They had to build a settlement by scratch. Their first harvests were poor, many died by starvation and illness. They had a good harvest in 1621, and declared a day of thanksgiving to God for it. Yes, there was feasting, but also prayer.

During the Civil War, shortly after the Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln declared a national day of giving thanks to God for preserving the Union. President Ulysses S. Grant signed an Act of Congress that made Thanksgiving a National Holiday.

The current pandemic is challenging us as a country; we long to be with family, yet, we need to do all we can to keep each other safe. That may mean being physically separated from each other. But whether we are able to communicate through the Web, by telephone, or by old fashion letter; we must not forget that we are united as a family.

And we must remember that we are all united in Jesus Christ. We are all tightly embraced by the Father. And He will give us the strength, the hope, and the faith to get through this. For this, we should give thanks!

“Most high, all powerful, all good Lord! All praise is yours, all glory, all honor. And all blessing.” The Canticle of Brother Sun – St. Francis of Assisi

In the Face of All This Hate.

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Just after the violence of Charlottesville, after watching scenes of white supremacists, and neo-nazis, carrying torches, and chanting hate; I saw a tv trailer.  It was on PBS, and it was a scene from Ken Burns famous documentary, “The Civil War.”  The scene was of a new military cemetery, located on the battlefield of Gettysburg.  The actor, Sam Waterston, as Abraham Lincoln, was speaking the words of the Gettysburg Address.  Here is a portion:

“But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate-we can not consecrate-we can not hallow this ground.  The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.  The world will little note, not long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far nobly advanced.  It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

We are all “the people,”  descendants of those who sought to create “a more perfect union.”  The process has been messy, bloody, imperfect, and at the same time wonderous and life giving.  We cannot surrender the process to the haters, the greedy, the terrorists, and the self-serving.  We must work together, with respect, with dialogue, and with peace in our hearts.  This ideal must not “perish from the earth!”  So help us God!