I write this the day before the culmination of what some consider the most tumultuous presidential election in American history. But no matter who becomes our 45th president, I am thankful!
Yes, along with countless of my fellow citizens, I will be extremely grateful just to have it all over. It’s been a rough ride.
However, even George Washington, our country’s “father” and its first president, served in tumultuous times. Elected on Feb. 4, 1789, by 69 members of Congress, Washington didn’t concern himself with campaigning for the position.
In fact, he didn’t want to be the infant country’s president, partly because it “would place him squarely in the middle of a raging legislative debate regarding the character of the new government, a conflict that persisted to the end of his second term,” according to “This Day in History,” from the History Channel’s website. He “dreaded presiding over a fragile young nation that already appeared to be dividing along partisan lines,” the site adds.
For some further historic perspective on the subject, check out the elections of Thomas Jefferson in 1800, John Quincy Adams (a cousin of mine) in 1824 and Abraham Lincoln in 1860, just for starters. And speaking of tumultuous, the election in which Lincoln became America’s Commander in Chief “wasn’t just contentious — it tore the nation apart,” the online history notes in “7 Most Contentious U.S. Presidential Elections.”
GIVING THANKS IS HISTORICAL
But though this year’s Election Day, which dominated much of America’s attention, is past, there are plenty of other reasons for giving thanks. That includes the holiday near the end of this month, which has roots in America’s history even before this country started electing presidents.
Some of Thanksgiving’s roots reach back to December of 1621, when the Mayflower’s surviving Pilgrims celebrated a successful harvest, joined by native friends, at a three-day feast — even in light of the fact that nearly half the original 102 pilgrims had died the winter after they arrived in 1620.
Just goes to show circumstances don’t need to be perfect for us to be thankful. Furthermore, the Pilgrims were certain of the origin of their blessings: “Our corn (wheat) did prove well, and God be praised,” Former Mayflower passenger, Edward Winslow, wrote in a letter after the feast. And “by the goodness of God we are so far from want …,” he added.
George Washington, who also credited God for the good he enjoyed, proclaimed Nov. 26, 1789, to be a one-time National Day of Thanksgiving, “devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.”
In 1863, Lincoln also issued a presidential proclamation. “The year that is drawing towards its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies,” it noted. “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.”
Lincoln’s proclamation set the precedent for annual days of national Thanksgiving. A congressional resolution in 1941 decreed every fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day.
MANY REASONS FOR THANKS
As in years past, I am thankful for many specific blessings. Last Saturday, I celebrated my 70th birthday, which for some reason I can’t quite verbalize, delights me. (By the way, I was born on Election Day.)
I’ve had three hospitalizations this year, though none was critical. I am healing well after a hip replacement, and many kind folks have stepped up to help me. In fact, it’s become humorous to me that, though I made arrangements with a neighbor to empty my garbage when I place outside my kitchen door, so many others also have that I’m never sure who’s responsible. After a large bag of trash disappeared recently, I asked one person outside if he had taken it out. But he said he hadn’t.
“I never know who to thank,” I said.
Helpful neighbors, caring friends and an abundance of other blessings have been mine throughout this year. But I have no problem knowing who to thank for them all.
For me, Thanksgiving is an opportunity to recognize that the God of our nation’s founders is still in the business of blessing people — and to thank him for it.
