The National Archives web site informs us that “On September 28, 1789, just before leaving for recess, the first Federal Congress passed a resolution asking that the President of the United States recommend to the nation a day of thanksgiving. A few days later, President George Washington issued a proclamation naming Thursday, November 26, 1789 as a `Day of Publick Thanksgivin’ - the first time Thanksgiving was celebrated under the new Constitution. Subsequent presidents issued Thanksgiving Proclamations, but the dates and even months of the celebrations varied. It wasn't until President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Proclamation that Thanksgiving was regularly commemorated each year on the last Thursday of November.”
Thanksgiving was first established by a president and legislators who had lived through the Revolutionary War and witnessed the considerable birth pains of a new nation. Later presidents and members of Congress issued proclamations of national gratitude during seasons of social and economic peril such as the War of 1812 when the infant union was again vulnerable and under siege. Lincoln officially established Thanksgiving as a national day of celebration in the middle of the Civil War.
Centuries before all that, a man named Paul wrote to one of the earliest colonies of Christian believers in what is now Thessaloniki, Greece, and suggested that they “give thanks in all circumstances.” Those were not easy times, so adhering to his advice was not an easy task. The members of that first-century faith community were viewed with suspicion by their neighbors and lived in fear that they’d be persecuted viciously by the powerful and wicked Nero, the new Emperor of the Roman Empire.
Paul seemed to understand, as did Presidents Washington and Lincoln, and so many others, that being thankful is something we do both “because of” and “in spite of.” Gratitude is essentially a vantage point for interpreting life rather than a commentary on the momentary circumstances of life. If we wait to experience thankfulness until all around us is perfect, then we will never know the joy of thankfulness at all.
We do not live in Shangri-La. We live instead in a world of pains and problems, just as all our ancestors have throughout recorded history. No, we cannot grow numb to the pains of this world, elsewise they will grow. No, we cannot turn a deaf ear to the cries of our neighbors, otherwise their suffering will increase. No, we cannot ignore the mammoth political and environmental issues of our age, or else we will surrender the potential for goodness to the self-centered and often evil power brokers of this world. But, in order to maintain the sort of emotional equilibrium that keeps us engaged and empowered to make a difference in the world, we also cannot cease to see and affirm the goodness that still exists in our world and our personal lives.
So, how do we keep our heads above the tumultuous waters of the current climate in which we live? How do we manage not to succumb to negativism and despair? The answer for us is the same as it was for those heard Paul’s message in Thessaloniki: “Give thanks in all circumstances.”
A friend of mine lost her husband when their daughter was six years old. The mother, even in her own profound grief, was also determined that an experience of loss would not become the defining element in her daughter’s worldview. So, she took action. The mother presented her daughter with a jar, a piece of paper, and some crayons. She asked the little girl to help her tape the paper to the glass container, and then at her mother’s instructions the child wrote on it the words: “Blessings Jar.” Every night thereafter, prior to turning out the lights for sleep, the mom would have her daughter write on a slip of paper one good thing that had happened in her life that day. Sometimes that was an easy thing for the child to do. Other nights, she struggled to remember a single happy thought from a long day at school. But every night before the lights went out, one good experience was written down and placed in the jar. That practice took place every night until the last night of each month, when the mom and daughter would empty the jar and read each entry one-by-one. They have been doing that every night for years. The mother told me: “I am trying to help my daughter see the world positively – to realize that no matter how bad things may seem at any given moment, there are always blessings in our lives every day if we are simply willing to look for them.” The practice is apparently working, as the child is growing into a young woman of confidence, capability, and irrepressible hope.
These are not easy times. But even in the midst of such, every one of us can find just enough gold nuggets amid the muddy river waters to know that however things may seem at any given moment, we are still blessed. Our ancestors got it right. Thankfulness is offered not merely “because of” but also “in spite of.” Those who are aware of that truth almost always reach personal places of peace. And having found such, they often also find the strength and courage required to take action to make wrong things right. Happy Thanksgiving!