Henderson Hills Baptist Church

Family, Feast, Football or Thanksgiving?

Have you heard of Sarah Hale? You may be surprised about what she accomplished. But before we get to that, let’s think about the upcoming holiday.

Thanksgiving Day in America is often traced back to Plymouth, Massachusetts where in 1621 the settlers celebrated a harvest feast following the first successful growing season in the New World. Native Americans had saved the Pilgrims from starvation during the previous winter. Although half of the pilgrims who had arrived on the Mayflower died during that harsh winter, there was no question that many more would have perished if it were not for the Native Americans who taught them how to plant and harvest food and provided food to these beleaguered settlers. Months later, the settlers wanted to celebrate their first great harvest. This first Thanksgiving feast stretched out over three days and fed 90 Indians and 53 pilgrims.

President George Washington, 168 years later, declared Thanksgiving Day a national celebration. However, the third president, Thomas Jefferson, did not think much of the practice and formally discontinued this national observance.

That is where Sarah Hale comes onto the scene. In 1828, Hale began a campaign to restore Thanksgiving as a national observance. Hale proved to be a very persistent woman. She met with scores of national leaders all the way up to the President. By all accounts, it was a process filled with disappointments. Some thirty-five years later, in 1863, President Lincoln established the day as a national day of observation. However, Congress was slow to act, in fact, and it was not until 1941 that Thanksgiving Day officially became a national holiday.

Who was Sarah Hale? She was the woman whose efforts eventually made Thanksgiving Day an official time to express our gratitude to the Lord. By the way, she was also the woman who wrote nursery rhymes such as “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” As Paul Harvey used to say, “That’s the rest of the story.”

I believe that Thanksgiving Day needs rescuing from what it is becoming, a day of feasting, football, and family gathering. Now please understand, I am all for those three things. Yet, the holiday needs to be about much more than that. The original purpose, passed down from the Pilgrims, the first president, Sarah Hale, Abraham Lincoln, and finally the Congress should retain its meaning. This is a day for giving thanks to God. For that to occur, Christians must lead the way through keeping the tradition alive within our own families.

Over the next few days, let’s recall what the Bible says about an attitude of gratitude. Tomorrow, let’s consider Psalm 107 together. Let me encourage you to read over it today; it will encourage your heart and get you started on a Thanksgiving to remember. For now, just meditate on and pray verses 1-2 of this great Psalm,

Ps 107:1-2 (ESV) Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!  Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble

2 Peter 3:18

Dennis

To read more from Dennis Newkirk click here.