No human counsel 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

I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, 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 [it is] announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people.                                             

~ President Abraham Lincoln
Formal Proclamation Initiating a
National Day of Thanksgiving, Oct. 3, 1863.

Thanksgiving is wonderful and for all kinds of reasons.  To begin with, it has the commendable effect of staving off Christmas.  Whereas in Britain the Christmas shopping season seems nowadays to kick off around about the August bank holiday, Christmas mania doesn’t traditionally begin in America until the last weekend in November.

Moreover, Thanksgiving remains a pure holiday, largely unsullied by commercialization.  It involves no greeting cards, no trees to trim, no perplexed hunt through drawers and cupboards for decorations. I love the fact that at Thanksgiving all  you do is sit at a table and try to get your stomach    into the approximate shape of a beach ball and then go and watch a game of football on TV.  This is my kind of holiday.

But perhaps the nicest, and certainly the noblest, aspect of Thanksgiving is that it gives you a formal, official occasion to give thanks for all those things for which you should be grateful.  I think this is a wonderful idea, and I can’t believe that it hasn’t been picked up by more countries.  Speaking personally, I have a great deal to be thankful for. I have a wife and children I am crazy about.  I have my health and retain full command of most of my faculties (albeit not always simultaneously).  I live in a time of peace and prosperity.

These are all things for which I am grateful, and I am pleased to let the record show it.

“There are many families in Little Rock and in the communities all around us who won’t have the blessing of having a Thanksgiving meal.  Whether this is because of a lost job, family struggles, or financial issues, we need to take the blessings that have been given to us, and share with those around us.  In doing this, may God get ALL the glory!