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Rainforests are shrinking, and the Sahara is rising.
Economic uncertainty, however critical, is outstripped by the moral uncertainty worldwide. What is evil? What is good?
Deconstruction of all social mores and cultural institutions leave a troubled generation to ask, like Pilate, "What is truth?"
In the midst of the sturm und drang, I remain thankful. Like the eye of the storm, gratitude keeps me sane, balanced and frankly, together! I tend to be a "glass half full" person anyway, but I have to stay more conscious of the blessings that we have....Here's where my thinking on gratitude is these days:
Gratitude is that unique state of mind in which the individual recounts the happenings, circumstances, or results that proved positive, optimistic or hopeful. Often these results are attributed to Divine Providence.
The opposite of gratitude is amnesia.
"....but in everything, with prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6) The Christian worldview is unique, in that thanksgiving for the positive ends is produced in the individual before conditions change. This is the ground of faith. God is always previous. Look at how Thanksgiving changed the outcome of the Revolutionary War....
The first National Thanksgiving...began...in 1777 in York, Pennsylvania
July 1776, the American colonists declared independence from Britain. The months that followed were so bleak that there was not much to give thanks for. The Journals of the Continental Congress record no Thanksgiving in that year, only two days of "solemn fasting" and prayer...
[The war effort was going poorly. Many Americans were wounded, captured or killed by the British]. Philadelphia, America's largest city, fell on Sept. 26. Congress fled...to Lancaster then to York... John Adams wrote in his diary, "The prospect is chilling, on every Side: Gloomy, dark, melancholy, and dispiriting."
Samuel Adams, [among 20 delegates left from the 56 who signed the Declaration of Independence]... predicted "Good tidings will soon arrive. We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid and protection." He turned out to have been correct... On Oct. 31, a messenger arrived with news of the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga. The American general, Horatio Gates, had accepted the surrender of 5,800 British soldiers, and with them 27 pieces of artillery and thousands of pieces of small arms and ammunition.
Saratoga turned the tide of the war -- news of the victory was decisive in bringing France into a full alliance with America. Congress responded to the event by appointing a committee of three that included Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia and Daniel Roberdeau of Pennsylvania, to draft a report and resolution. The report declared Thursday, Dec. 18, as "a day of Thanksgiving" to God, so that "with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts, and consecrate themselves to the service of their divine benefactor."
It was the first of many Thanksgivings ordered up by Samuel Adams. Though the holidays were almost always in November or December, the exact dates varied (Congress fixed Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday in November in 1941).
In 1778, a Thanksgiving resolution drafted by Adams was approved by Congress ... setting aside Wednesday, Dec. 30, as a day of public thanksgiving and praise.
After the Revolution, Adams... eventually elected governor of Massachusetts, maintained the practice of declaring these holidays. In October of 1795, [he] proclaimed Thursday, Nov. 19, as "a day of Public Thanksgiving to God," recommending that prayer be offered that God would graciously be pleased to put an end to all Tyranny and Usurpation, that the People who are under the Yoke of Oppression, may be made free; and that the Nations who are contending for freedom may still be secured by His Almighty Aid."
A year later, Gov. Adams offered a similar Thanksgiving proclamation, declaring Thursday, Dec. 15, 1796, as "a Day of Public Thanksgiving and Praise to Our Divine Benefactor."
History shows that prayer and thanksgiving proclamations were not uncommon in the British Empire, but their issuance and practice became vital in the colonies, and especially accelerated during the War for Independence. Prayer and thanksgiving have been institutionalized and memorialized by presidents and congresses since.
It is up to us who believe to stir the Spirit of Prayer and Thanksgiving today, not just keep tradition. Our task is not simply to defend the status quo, but to magnify prayer, praise and thanksgiving, until, as Samuel Adams hoped, "every Nation and Society of Men may be inspired with the knowledge and feeling of their natural and just rights" and "That Tyranny and Usurpation may everywhere come to an end."
Lord, thank You for all You have done for our nation and for the liberty we enjoy. Thank you for keeping all your promises to revive us again as we seek You!
Revive our churches;
Heal our families;
Awaken our fellow countrymen and a bring reform to our culture.
Draw us closer to you.
Thank you for the Gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Thank you for our nation's Christian heritage.
Thanks to You in advance for fulfilling the vision you gave our Forefathers for America to be a Gospel light among the nation--
Transform every sphere of our society.
Be exalted among us we pray.
May our children and grandchildren observe and celebrate Thanksgiving with wholehearted faith long after we are gone. In Jesus name we pray, Amen!
(1 Chr 16:1-36; Psalm 75: Psalm 92: Lk 17:11-20; Php 4:6; 1 Tim 2:1-2; Heb 13:5; Rev 11:16-17).
Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people. ---Proverbs 14:34
Be blessed. Be a blessing. Happy Thanksgiving.
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