Virgil

Thanksgiving

I certainly knew of the Pilgrims and their celebration of thanks after their first year in the new world, and I knew that Abraham Lincoln was the president who institutionalized the Thanksgiving holiday, but vague in my memory – vague because it seems like it’s somewhere in the corners of my brain but hardly in the forefront – is that George Washington was the first president to actually proclaim a Thanksgiving holiday, albeit a onetime event until Lincoln resurrected it. In the very first year of his presidency, after nearly a decade war of independence and half a decade of establishing a constitution and government, he decided to have the nation give thanks. I heard his proclamation read on the radio and thought both a marvelous piece of writing (the parallel constructions, the balanced sentences, the listings in groups of twos, threes and even fours to form a wonderful prose rhythm) and an incredible insight into what Thanksgiving means to the nation.

By the President of the United States of America, a 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 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 which we experienced 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 enabled 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 hath 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 shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease 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 third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

With that I want to offer thanks to the Almighty for all that I have been blessed with: a wonderful family, especially a wife that tolerates me and loves me and takes care of me, for good health throughout my entire life, for all the near missed accidents, for a body that has allowed me to enjoy some level of physical exertion, for a mind with good intelligence and in constant inquisitiveness, for a career at which I love and have done well at, for financial stability, having come from poverty and worked out of it, for a wonderful country that has given me opportunity and liberty, that took in my immigrant parents and took care of them when my father was disabled, for good friends, some of which I’ve known for over thirty-five years, and new friends, even those inside my computer, for being blessed with not getting mixed up with the wrong kinds of people who could have led me into a path of drugs and crime, for having values and striving to maintain them, for having the disposition to appreciate art, music, and literature, for having the grace of loving God and humanity and seeing the divine inside of humanity, for having the nature to be quick to forgive, and finally for reaching a level of tranquility inside my soul. I thank you Lord.