philbennett
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04:29:22 pm on November 14, 2011 |
Hello everyone ! If you have ever read any of my plogs, you
probably know I can certainly tend to be a bit long winded in the conveyance of
some of my ideas and opinions. Today I will
be much more brief. As we quickly approach
another Thanksgiving Holiday here in America, I want to go back and spend some
time thinking about where this event came from, what it meant then, and what it
means now in 2011. I would encourage you all to do the same.We are all still Americans; we
are all still enjoying the benefits and opportunities and struggling with the difficulties
and problems that accompany trying to live out the Great American Adventure in
some form or other. So I want to share
the following message from our first Commander-in-Chief, George Washington.I suggest you read it slowly,
maybe more than once, ponder the message and remember who we are and what we
are called to be about. And may we all be truly grateful for all we have and
have received.I pray that this Thanksgiving
Day will truly be a day of celebration and reflection for you and yours.It is no accident that we are here, now. We were born for such a time as this.
George Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation
Whereas it is the duty of all nations
to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful
for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas
both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to “recommend
to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to
be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of
Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to
establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November
next, to be 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; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our
sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of
this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold
mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and
conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and
plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in
which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our
safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted
for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we
have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the
great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and
supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon
our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or
private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and
punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by
constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws,
discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all
sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to
bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge
and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among
them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal
prosperity as He alone knows to be best.Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.
George Washington
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