Remembering Why We Celebrate Thanksgiving

"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 commend to the people of United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many 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 to the service of that great and glorious Being, Who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or will be." Those words, spoken by our first President George Washington on October 3, 1789 set forth a reaffirmation of the basis upon which our country was founded. "it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God" he said. Not it can be if you want it to. He said "it is". Spoken from the time when the Constitution was written and in the same time as the Declaration of Independence which states that "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights" it is often over looked in this day. For we live in an age where those who would turn away from the truth, our history and God Himself seek to enforce their own religious practices upon the rest of America by removing that foundation granted to all Americans. These words by President Washington are long forgotten as too are the concluding words of our Constitution before those that signed it affixed their names: "Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven". Our founders with that bold statement made it clear as to which God was meant to those that would cry about the ambiguousness of the Declaration of Independence in an attempt to justify removing God from our society. This day of Thanksgiving many of us will be in the presence of friends and family. And we must give thanks to our Lord for the gifts he has given us. But if anyone wants to confront you about the true meaning of Thanksgiving or why it is a national holiday do not cower from the fight. We celebrate it, because while we are a nation tolerant of legitimate religions we are still a nation founded under a specific and one true God. Do not shy away from correcting those that may not know the truth because if ignorance is allowed to fester, liberty will die soon after. Laus Deo.