Thanksgiving Day ... What does it mean to you?

The Plain Truth
November, 1969


Thanksgiving Day ... What does it mean to you?

To many Americans Thanksgiving Day means sumptuous turkey
dinners, family reunions and football games. Most seem to forget
that the very name of this traditional holiday means to give
thanks. But give thanks to whom? For what? And why?

by Eugene M. Walter


IN 1630 the little 350-ton "Arbella" was plowing westward
through the rough Atlantic to the Massachusetts coast. From its
deck John Winthrop preached a striking sermon that accurately
predicted America's future.
"Wee shall be," prophesied Winthrop, "as a Citty upon a
Hill, the Eies of all people are uppon us; soe that if wee shall
deale falsely with our god in this worke we have undertaken and
soe cause him to withdraw his present help from us, wee shall be
made a story and a by-word through the world."
Those are remarkable words! They indicate that at least some
of the early colonists sensed that their endeavors were being
favored by the hand of God.
These early settlers seemed to grasp that they were being
given very special opportunities, special blessings -- and
special responsibilities. For all this, the indications are, some
were grateful, at first.

The Early Thanksgivings

In 1621 the first American thanksgiving was held by Plymouth
colony. It was observed in gratitude for the ending of a
difficult year and a bountiful harvest. The native foods --
fruits and vegetables, wild turkeys, pumpkin pies and such --
constituted the fare of that first thanksgiving day and became
the traditional food for the day.
In succeeding years, thanksgiving festivals became very
popular in New England. The colonists celebrated thanksgiving
days in recognition of such happy events as good harvests and
victories over Indians. President Washington issued the first
presidential thanksgiving proclamation in honor of the new
constitution in 1789.
During the 19th century, an increasing number of states
observed the day annually, each appointing its own date.
As America grew, there was ever more to be thankful for. In
the years that had passed since John Winthrop's prophetic sermon,
America had truly become the "Citty upon a Hill." As the Civil
War ended, the downtrodden masses of the world looked expectantly
to America as the new land of hope and opportunity. Immigrants
from many lands arrived on American shores to try to catch the
American dream.
But success and prosperity were bringing the problems and
pitfalls which John Winthrop had so vividly foreseen. President
Lincoln also recognized these problems and was quick to act.

Lincoln's Sober Warning

"We find ourselves," Lincoln said, "in the peaceful
possession of the fairest portion of the earth, as regards
fertility of soil, extent of territory, and salubrity of climate
fundamental blessings. We toiled not in the acquirement or the
establishment of them."
On April 30, 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed a national
day of fasting and prayer. In making this proclamation he said:
"It is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to own their
dependence upon the overruling power of God ... and to recognize
the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by
all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the
Lord .... We have been the recipients of the choicest blessings
of heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and
prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no
other nation ever has grown; BUT WE HAVE FORGOTTEN GOD! We have
forgotten the gracious Hand which preserved us in peace, and
multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly
imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these
blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our
own."
President Lincoln saw a nation drunk with success not due to
its own efforts. He saw a nation taking all the credit and glory
to itself. This great president called upon the nation for a day
of fasting and prayer to confess this national sin before God.
That petition was heard -- and the nation was then spared.
Later that same year, on October 3, Lincoln proclaimed the
last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day -- a day to give
thanks to God for the multitudinous blessings He had bestowed.
(Today Thanksgiving Day is observed on the fourth Thursday of
November as set by Congress in December, 1941).

America's Greatest Years -- and Now

In the years that followed Lincoln, America rose to become
the greatest single power, and the most wealthy nation this world
has ever known.
At the zenith of her power, America's six percent of the
world's population possessed some 50 percent of the world's
wealth. In commodity after commodity, and in product after
product, America led the world.
But with the Korean War in the early 1950's, America began
to slip. Troubles began to mount on all sides -- at home and
abroad. Where, before, everything seemed to turn out in our
favor, now it seemed that nothing was turning out well.
What happened -- and what is continuing to happen? Why is
America fast losing its reputation as a "Citty upon a Hill"?
Today America is torn by strife and dissension. We have no
national goal. We have recklessly squandered our fabulous wealth,
and indescribably polluted our beautiful land.
Greed, selfishness and ingratitude form the warp and woof of
society. "Has the American Dream become the American damnation, a
formula for selfishness rather than equality and excellence?"
asks "Time" (Jan. 24, 1969).
Other nations are no longer impressed with America and the
way Americans do things. "Very few people are enamoured of the
American way of life," says British historian Sir Denis Brogan.
Historians are now speculating on whether the tenure of the
U.S. as the first power in the world will not also be one of the
briefest in history.
What does all this mean -- and what does it have to do with
Thanksgiving?
Just this: our careless, godless, decadent way of life has
stripped the value and meaning from the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

How to Make Thanksgiving Meaningful

There is nothing necessarily wrong with good food, family
reunions and football games on Thanksgiving Day. But all too many
use these activities wrongly and forget the purpose for the
holiday. Many glut themselves with far more food than they ought
to eat; few, however, stop to give God thanks for this food --
even on Thanksgiving Day.
Family reunions all too often turn out to be family brawls.
Many a tense Thanksgiving Day with relatives ends in violence.
And in recent years, there have been several cases of someone
jumping up from the Thanksgiving dinner to grab a gun and shoot
some member of his or her family!
Millions of others push and shove one another in large
crowds at football games and parades, and kill one another on the
highway as they madly strive to make sure they get their fair
quota of pleasure.
And where is the giving of thanks in all this? In the
overwhelming vast majority of the cases, it is nowhere to be
found! What a travesty!
As we observe Thanksgiving Day this year, we need to stop
and soberly reflect on why we have so much, why we are losing it
so fast, and where we are headed. As perhaps no other literature
you might read, our free book on "The United States and British
Commonwealth in Prophecy" will help you do this. If you have not
yet received your copy, write for it immediately.
But Thanksgiving is not just for Americans and should not be
limited to one day a year. It should be a daily occurrence for
all of us. We all have much to be thankful for -- all the time.
Now as never before, we need to stop and thank God for the
many blessings we still have -- and change from our wrong ways so
that the blessings we have lost can be restored.
If we fail to do this, and if we fail to acknowledge God as
the Giver of all our blessings, He will surely "withdrawe his
present help from us, [and] we SHALL BE made a story and a
by-word through the world."