FAITH, FREEDOM AND THANKSGIVING

When you envision the ideal Thanksgiving, you often think of family, food, football, and fun. While these traditions are important, we would be missing something vital if we didn't include faith and freedom in the discussion.

To better understand this, let us explore the heritage of Thanksgiving and its connections to our faith and freedom.

Almost every country has a recognized holiday in their nation when citizens honor their constitution, celebrate a leaders birthdays, or commemorate their independence from colonial rule. While the United States shares the celebration of Independence Day with other countries, our expression of the yearly observance of Thanksgiving is unique. Only a handful of other nations designate a day of thanksgiving, and most of these occasions are harvest festivals, which have their roots in the agricultural cycle.
From the perspective of the Pilgrims, their first Thanksgiving in New England occurred two years after the event we commonly refer to as the first Thanksgiving. This celebration took place in July 1623 when the governor declared a day of thanksgiving to express gratitude for rainfall that had saved their harvest. These religious observances were practiced in all 13 colonies and played a significant role in shaping the modern Thanksgiving we celebrate today.

Thus, religious observance has always been an integral part of Thanksgiving. From the beginning, there has been a tradition of expressing gratitude to God for various blessings, such as successful harvests, favorable weather, and military victories. For the Pilgrims and other early immigrants to America, a “thanksgiving day” was designated for prayer and worship.

Although we live in a far less religious period in history than that of the Pilgrims, it would be a mistake to claim, as some do, that Thanksgiving lacks religious origins and significance. It is one of the few religious holidays that can be celebrated by all faiths. The Pilgrims arrived on our shores seeking the freedom to worship as they wished. On Thanksgiving, Americans of all beliefs—whether religious or not—can express gratitude for the freedom they found.
As time went on, the presence of Thanksgiving grew more prominent and became a major subject matter in the Bill of Rights in 1791. Two years earlier, during the very first federal Thanksgiving proclamation made by George Washington in 1789, it was explained that gratitude is a duty, not just a feeling.  Washington said, “Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, and to be grateful for His benefits…”

Washington's words were perhaps inspired by Psalm 103:2 which says,  My soul, bless the Lord, and do not forget all his benefits.”

Like Washington, we can take inventory of our blessings, which include our faith in Jesus Christ and the precious freedoms we enjoy in America. Both our faith and our freedoms enable us to pursue and embrace many of the blessings we have today, for which we should be thankful not just on Thanksgiving Day, but every day.

Happy Thanksgiving!