Greetings and blessings to
you all. Although this past year has been one of great disappointment,
disharmony, and disunion with the princes and principalities that lord
over us there is reason to be thankful at this time. We can take
comfort in the fact that we are governed not by worldly leaders but by a
sovereign God who is in control. We must always remember this and
submit to his authority.
Let us take a moment to
remember the true meaning of Thanksgiving and let that be the impetus to
renew and restore our vigor. Thanksgiving is the first truly American
experience that sets forth and affirms the blessings by our Lord God
Almighty in the new worldly experiment of America. Driven by God’s
providence and grace, our country’s founding fathers fully established
the role of a divine being in their seeking to establish a place where
they could fully live their lives in obedience to His plan. It is not
the 1776 founders of whom we are all familiar with but rather the 1600
era Pilgrim and Puritan founders who truly laid the foundation for this
notion that this land is to be a place of freedom, tolerance, and
harmony. This was expressed by the leaders of our first colonial
settlers’ in the Mayflower Compact.
“In
the name of God, Amen. We whose names are under-written, the loyal
subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God,
of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc.
Having undertaken, for the
glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our
King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern
parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the
presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine our selves
together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and
preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof
to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances,
acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought
most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which
we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have
hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the eleventh of November
[New Style, November 21], in the year of the reign of our sovereign
lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and
of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620.”
The Puritan governor of the
Massachusetts Bay colony John Winthrop first expressed the notion of
American exceptionalism in penning a sermon aboard the tall ship Arbella
bound for this new land. Drawing from the Sermon on the Mount and the
parable of Salt and Light, Winthrop called upon his fellow puritans to
lead a life worthy of their calling in this new land. There was a time
when their life was not up to the Christian calling with their wrong
doings in Europe. He wanted to change their practices and start a new
beginning. The people must lead a godly and pure life. The world is
watching and they had to be a model to others as the "city upon a hill".
The roots of our modern day Thanksgiving was succinctly traced in
this article by Henry Morris IV of the Institute for Creation Research.
Perhaps
no other custom so clearly reveals this nation’s original character as
that of Thanksgiving Day. Other nations have adopted similar
observances, but America was the first to nationally recognize its
dependence on God with a special day set aside to thank Him for all His
many blessings.
While the exact date of the
first American Thanksgiving observance is debatable, there is no doubt
this custom sprang from the shared Judeo-Christian heritage of those
early pilgrims. From early Spanish expeditions in the late 1500s to the
Popham Colony in Maine in 1607, each group publically declared their
thanks to the God of the Bible.
Twelve years later, settlers in Virginia
declared a day of thanksgiving for their survival on the shores of this
then uncharted land. And in 1623, Governor William Bradford of Plymouth
Colony established the most famous of all such observances when a
bountiful harvest prompted him to proclaim a special day to “render
thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings.”1
During the War of
Independence from England, the U.S. Continental Congress set aside a day
for thanksgiving and praise for the decisive victory at Saratoga in
1777, marking the first time that all American colonies took part in
such an event on the same day. The following year at Valley Forge,
George Washington declared a special day of thanksgiving upon receiving
news that France would provide aid to our cause. And later, as the young
nation’s first president, he responded to a congressional petition by
declaring Thursday, November 26, 1789, as the first Thanksgiving Day of
the United States of America.
Many state and national days
of thanksgivings have been proclaimed since that first Thanksgiving
declaration. But it was the tireless crusade of Sarah Josepha Hale that
finally led to the establishment of this beautiful observance as a
national American holiday. Her moving letters so touched the heart of
Abraham Lincoln that in 1863—in the midst of the horrors of the Civil
War—he urged his countrymen to be mindful of their many blessings, that
they are “the gracious gifts of the Most High God” who ought to be
thanked “with one heart and one voice, by the whole American People.”2
Of course, giving thanks to
God is certainly not an exclusive American convention—it was first
commanded of Christian believers many thousands of years before. Paul
wrote, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you” (
1 Thessalonians 5:18). Notice that the charge was not to give thanks
for everything—rather, we are to give thanks
in everything. Good or bad, right or wrong, be thankful in everything! Our American forebears knew this well.
References
- Governor William Bradford’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, Plymouth Plantation, 1623.
- Proclamation of Thanksgiving, Abraham Lincoln, 1863.
As referenced above, our
First Continental Congress in 1777 put forth our first proclamation of
Thanksgiving. These words still resonate within the hearts of many of
us today. It is altogether fitting to read them once again and remind
ourselves at this time of such uncertainty and strife that we stand on
the shoulders of giants. In our eternal battle against the forces of
evil we must steel our resolve and remain ever vigilant. It was so
readily apparent with this latest election that we have so much work
that needs to be done to restore our republic and its Judeo/Christian
heritage and to awaken our Christian faith leaders and their flocks to
their biblical responsibility to be Salt and Light and Watchmen on the
Wall. We will continue in our fight for the restoration of a moral and
upright society that once again celebrates its heritage and identity.
We wish for you all a most joyous Thanksgiving and that when you
assemble with family and friends that you take pause to give thanks to
the eternal Provider and consecrate yourselves to His service. Pray for
revival.
PROCLAMATION
FOR AS MUCH as it is
the indispensable Duty of all Men to adore the superintending Providence
of Almighty God; to acknowledge with Gratitude their Obligation to him
for Benefits received, and to implore such farther Blessings as they
stand in Need of: And it having pleased him in his abundant Mercy, not
only to continue to us the innumerable Bounties of his common
Providence; but also to smile upon us in the Prosecution of a just and
necessary War, for the Defense and Establishment of our unalienable
Rights and Liberties; particularly in that he hath been pleased, in so
great a Measure, to prosper the Means used for the Support of our
Troops, and to crown our Arms with most signal success:
It is
therefore recommended to the legislative or executive Powers of these
UNITED STATES to set apart THURSDAY, the eighteenth Day of December
next, for SOLEMN THANKSGIVING and PRAISE:
That at one Time and
with one Voice, the good People may express the grateful Feelings of
their Hearts, and consecrate themselves to the Service of their Divine
Benefactor; and
That, together with their sincere
Acknowledgments and Offerings, they may join the penitent Confession of
their manifold Sins, whereby they had forfeited every Favor; and their
humble and earnest Supplication that it may please GOD through the
Merits of JESUS CHRIST, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of
Remembrance;
That it may please him graciously to afford his
Blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and prosper
the public Council of the whole: To inspire our Commanders, both by Land
and Sea, and all under them, with that Wisdom and Fortitude which may
render them fit Instruments, under the Providence of Almighty GOD, to
secure for these United States, the greatest of all human Blessings,
INDEPENDENCE and PEACE:
That it may please him, to prosper the
Trade and Manufactures of the People, and the Labor of the Husbandman,
that our Land may yield its Increase: To take Schools and Seminaries of
Education, so necessary for cultivating the Principles of true Liberty,
Virtue and Piety, under his nurturing Hand; and to prosper the Means of
Religion, for the promotion and enlargement of that Kingdom, which
consisteth in Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost."
In His Service,
The Black Robe Regiment and Salt and Light Institute Team
Visit The Black Robe Regiment at:
http://blackroberegiment.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network
