In Pursuit of Thanksgiving: A Historical and Spiritual Quest

Prepare to embark on a fascinating journey through history in this special Thanksgiving episode of Truth Trek. We'll enlighten you with readings from President Abraham Lincoln's proclamation, shedding light on the origins of Thanksgiving and the challenges faced by the nation during that period. You'll discover how hope and gratitude helped shape this significant holiday, reflecting on the hard work of Sarah Josepha Hale, and the words drafted by Seward, Lincoln's Secretary of State.

We'll also explore the biblical roots of giving thanks, with readings from Psalm 100. Let these verses serve as a powerful reminder of the Christian call to express gratitude. As we approach Thanksgiving, let's unify in gratitude, acknowledging our past, and looking forward with hope. So, join us on this brief yet enriching journey of remembrance, reflection, and gratitude on Truth Trek, as we explore the historical roots of Thanksgiving and its enduring spiritual significance.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Happy Thanksgiving and welcome to Truth Trek. This is going to be a very short episode of Truth Trek special for Thanksgiving. I'm going to read a couple things to you and just leave that for you, as a sort of devotional for you to reflect on this Thanksgiving Day. First of all, I'm going to read from Abraham Lincoln's proclamation that he made on October 3rd 1863, and, according to battlefieldsorg, on that date President Lincoln issued a proclamation designating the last Thursday of November next as a day of Thanksgiving. Lincoln's announcement marked the culmination of a multi-decade campaign by Sarah Josepha Hale to make Thanksgiving into a national holiday. Although Lincoln wrote the vast majority of his state papers, the Thanksgiving proclamation was in fact drafted by Seward, who was his Secretary of State. So here is the proclamation that Abraham Lincoln put out on October 3rd 1863, by the President of the United States of America a proclamation.

Speaker 1: 1:09

The year that is drawing towards its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and helpful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart, which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequal magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength, from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plow, the shuttle or the ship. The acts has enlarged the borders of our settlements and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than here to fore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with a large increase of freedom.

Speaker 1: 2:43

No human council hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. 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 so journeying 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. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the Ascriptions justly due to him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and union, in testimony whereof I have hereon to set my hand and cause the seal of the United States to be affixed, done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord 1863, and of the independence of the United States, the 88th by the President, abraham Lincoln, william H Seward, secretary of State. What a great reminder of how this holiday started, with a true recognition of the sovereign God who has provided.

Speaker 1: 4:46

Let us now read two short scriptures that remind us of how the Bible tells us we ought to thank God. First, psalm 100, make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord, he is God. It is he who made us and we are his. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him. Bless his name, for the Lord is good, his steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations.

Speaker 1: 5:24

And finally, I want to read a passage from Ephesians where we see the things that made Paul thankful.

Speaker 1: 5:30

I'll start in Ephesians, chapter 1, at verse 15.

Speaker 1: 5:34

Here Paul writes.

Speaker 1: 5:34

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers that the God of our Lord, jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, that are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe, according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but in the one to come.

Speaker 1: 6:28

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. My friends, remember to be thankful to God today, on this Thanksgiving Day. Have a blessed day.