November inspires gratitude
When this time of year rolls around, we at the Franklin County Times join our friends, neighbors and people across the country in taking time to reflect on all the good things in the world.
The history of Thanksgiving is impressed upon children as young as Pre-K, with images of pilgrim hats and overflowing cornucopias painting the picture of a bountiful meal of goodwill in the foundational years of our nation. The special holiday we know today wasn’t formally instituted until 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln, but ever since then it has been observed annually on the last (or, formalized in 1941, the fourth) Thursday in November.
Lincoln says it beautifully in his Thanksgiving proclamation. We’d like to share a portion of it with you in this week’s “Franklin County Times.” He said in part:
“The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful 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 unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to 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 theatre of military conflict.”
The blessings Lincoln numbered in his proclamation were, he stated “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 sojourning 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 … (to) 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, tranquillity and Union.”
Centuries later, we join Lincoln in inviting our fellow citizens to express gratitude for all the good fortune and favor we have experienced. Even with the tragedies that have befallen this year, and regardless of what lack or problems we face, there is always something for which to be thankful.
We hope you are fortunate to spend time this year celebrating the holiday with your friends and family, enjoying a good meal and good fellowship. As you loosen your belt and tuck in to a plateful of turkey and dressing – or whatever dishes say “Thanksgiving” to you – we hope you will take a moment to express gratitude for all the great things that have come your way.
When we count our blessings, we count all of you. We are thankful for each of our readers, today and every day of the year.
