Thanksgiving is always a wonderful day for me. I remember as a child our family would gather in Lewistown, Penn. for a huge gathering. It was special to me as a kid because I got a big turkey leg and some pumpkin pie. As I grew older, Thanksgiving also came to include football. For years, that meant watching the Packers and the Lions game. This year it will once again be the Packers and the Lions.
Callista and I have so much to be thankful for that I hardly know where to start. Let me just say God has been incredibly good to us – especially over the last year. Callista’s assignment as U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein on behalf of President Donald J. Trump and the American people has turned out to be a wonderful experience.
I hope everyone reading this will have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
The tradition of an official Thanksgiving goes back to our very first president, George Washington. On Oct. 3, 1789, Washington issued 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.”
For President Washington, it was clear that Thanksgiving had a deeply religious meaning. He went on to assert: “We may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations.”
Seventy-four years later, after the extraordinary Union victory at Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln offered a similar call for a day of Thanksgiving:
“The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and even soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God…
“It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.”
Presidents Washington and Lincoln lived through extraordinary tests before they issued their Thanksgiving proclamations.
Washington had led the revolutionary army for eight years of war – and then was involved in a six-year effort to establish a stable government. The fruits of his efforts endure to this day – and will be celebrated next year during the 250th anniversary of our independence.
President Lincoln had to endure a Civil War which cost more lives than any other American war. He felt deeply that without God’s help the Union could not have survived, and slavery could not have been abolished.
We – who now have greater opportunities and fewer crises – have even more reason to give thanks to God for our lives, loved ones, prosperity, safety, and freedom.
On Thursday, just for a few minutes between the turkey and the ball game, we should all offer a prayer of thanks to God for all the personal and national blessings he has bestowed on us.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Your friend,
Newt
For more commentary from Newt Gingrich, visit our website or Substack. Also, subscribe to the Newt’s World podcast.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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