In Pursuit of Thanksgiving: A Historical and Spiritual Quest

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Prepare to embark on a fascinating journey through history in this special Thanksgiving episode of Truth Trek. We'll enlighten you with readings from President Abraham Lincoln's proclamation, shedding light on the origins of Thanksgiving and the challenges faced by the nation during that period. You'll discover how hope and gratitude helped shape this significant holiday, reflecting on the hard work of Sarah Josepha Hale, and the words drafted by Seward, Lincoln's Secretary of State.

We'll also explore the biblical roots of giving thanks, with readings from Psalm 100. Let these verses serve as a powerful reminder of the Christian call to express gratitude. As we approach Thanksgiving, let's unify in gratitude, acknowledging our past, and looking forward with hope. So, join us on this brief yet enriching journey of remembrance, reflection, and gratitude on Truth Trek, as we explore the historical roots of Thanksgiving and its enduring spiritual significance.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Happy Thanksgiving and welcome to Truth Trek.
This is going to be a veryshort episode of Truth Trek
special for Thanksgiving.
I'm going to read a couplethings to you and just leave
that for you, as a sort ofdevotional for you to reflect on
this Thanksgiving Day.
First of all, I'm going to readfrom Abraham Lincoln's

(00:21):
proclamation that he made onOctober 3rd 1863, and, according
to battlefieldsorg, on thatdate President Lincoln issued a
proclamation designating thelast Thursday of November next
as a day of Thanksgiving.
Lincoln's announcement markedthe culmination of a
multi-decade campaign by SarahJosepha Hale to make

(00:44):
Thanksgiving into a nationalholiday.
Although Lincoln wrote the vastmajority of his state papers,
the Thanksgiving proclamationwas in fact drafted by Seward,
who was his Secretary of State.
So here is the proclamationthat Abraham Lincoln put out on
October 3rd 1863, by thePresident of the United States

(01:06):
of America a proclamation.
The year that is drawing towardsits close has been filled with
the blessings of fruitful fieldsand helpful skies.
To these bounties, which are soconstantly enjoyed that we are
prone to forget the source fromwhich they come, others have
been added which are of soextraordinary a nature that they

(01:27):
cannot fail to penetrate andsoften even the heart, which is
habitually insensible to theever-watchful providence of
Almighty God.
In the midst of a civil war ofunequal magnitude and severity,
which has sometimes seemed toforeign states to invite and
provoke their aggression, peacehas been preserved with all

(01:48):
nations, order has beenmaintained, the laws have been
respected and obeyed, andharmony has prevailed everywhere
except in the theater ofmilitary conflict, while that
theater has been greatlycontracted by the advancing
armies and navies of the Union.
Needful diversions of wealthand of strength, from the fields
of peaceful industry to thenational defense, have not

(02:11):
arrested the plow, the shuttleor the ship.
The acts has enlarged theborders of our settlements and
the mines, as well of iron andcoal as of the precious metals,
have yielded even moreabundantly than here to fore.
Population has steadilyincreased, notwithstanding the
waste that has been made in thecamp, the siege and the

(02:32):
battlefield, and the country,rejoicing in the consciousness
of augmented strength and vigor,is permitted to expect
continuance of years with alarge increase of freedom.
No human council hath devised,nor hath any mortal hand worked
out these great things.
They are the gracious gifts ofthe Most High God who, while

(02:53):
dealing with us in anger for oursins, hath nevertheless
remembered mercy.
It has seemed to me fit andproper that they should be
solemnly, reverently andgratefully acknowledged as with
one heart and one voice, by thewhole American people.
I do therefore invite my fellowcitizens in every part of the
United States, and also thosewho are at sea and those who are

(03:17):
so journeying in foreign lands,to set apart and observe the
last Thursday of November nextas a day of thanksgiving and
praise to our beneficent Fatherwho dwelleth in the heavens.
And I recommend to them that,while offering up the
Ascriptions justly due to himfor such singular deliverances
and blessings, they do also,with humble penitence for our

(03:40):
national perverseness anddisobedience, commend to his
tender care all those who havebecome widows, orphans, mourners
or sufferers in the lamentablecivil strife in which we are
unavoidably engaged, andfervently implore the
interposition of the AlmightyHand to heal the wounds of the
nation and to restore it as soonas may be consistent with the

(04:04):
divine purposes, to the fullenjoyment of peace, harmony,
tranquility and union, intestimony whereof I have hereon
to set my hand and cause theseal of the United States to be
affixed, done at the city ofWashington, this third day of
October, in the year of our Lord1863, and of the independence

(04:27):
of the United States, the 88thby the President, abraham
Lincoln, william H Seward,secretary of State.
What a great reminder of howthis holiday started, with a
true recognition of thesovereign God who has provided.
Let us now read two shortscriptures that remind us of how

(04:50):
the Bible tells us we ought tothank God.
First, psalm 100, make a joyfulnoise to the Lord all the earth
.
Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come into his presence withsinging.
Know that the Lord, he is God.
It is he who made us and we arehis.
We are his people and the sheepof his pasture.
Enter his gates withthanksgiving and his courts with

(05:13):
praise.
Give thanks to him.
Bless his name, for the Lord isgood, his steadfast love
endures forever and hisfaithfulness to all generations.
And finally, I want to read apassage from Ephesians where we
see the things that made Paulthankful.
I'll start in Ephesians, chapter1, at verse 15.

(05:34):
Here Paul writes.
For this reason, because I haveheard of your faith in the Lord
Jesus and your love toward allthe saints, I do not cease to
give thanks for you, rememberingyou in my prayers that the God
of our Lord, jesus Christ, theFather of glory, may give you
the spirit of wisdom and ofrevelation in the knowledge of
him, having the eyes of yourhearts enlightened that you may

(05:57):
know what is the hope to whichhe has called you, that are the
riches of his gloriousinheritance in the saints and
what is the immeasurablegreatness of his power towards
us who believe, according to theworking of his great might,
that he worked in Christ when heraised him from the dead and
seated him at the right hand inthe heavenly places, far above

(06:19):
all rule and authority and powerand dominion, and above every
name that is named, not only inthis age but in the one to come.
And he put all things under hisfeet and gave him as head over
all things to the church, whichis his body, the fullness of him
who fills all in all.
My friends, remember to bethankful to God today, on this

(06:43):
Thanksgiving Day.
Have a blessed day.