On November 11, 1620, the ship called the Mayflower arrived in New England after a voyage of 66 days from England. That means this year, 2020, is the 400th anniversary of that event. This anniversary is not only a commemoration of the inspirational, determined spirit of our ancestors, but also marks a significant milestone of America's founding story.

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in the United States, and in 2020 it occurs on Thursday, November 26.

In 1621, the colonists in Plymouth and Wampanoag Native Americans shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states.

During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress designated one or more days of thanksgiving a year; in 1789 George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving proclamation by the national government of the United States. The proclamation called upon Americans to show their gratitude for the conclusion to the country’s war of independence and the successful ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Presidential successors John Adams and James Madison also designated days of thanks during their presidencies.

In 1817, New York became the first of several states to officially adopt an annual Thanksgiving holiday; each one celebrated it on a different day, however, and the American South remained largely unfamiliar with the tradition.

In 1827 noted magazine editor and prolific writer Sarah Josepha Hale (author, among countless other things, of the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb”) launched a campaign to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday. For 36 years, she published numerous editorials and sent scores of petition letters to Governors, Senators, Presidents and other politicians…this earned her the nickname as the “Mother of Thanksgiving.”

President Abraham Lincoln finally heeded her request in 1863 during the height of the Civil War. He issued a proclamation entreating all Americans to ask God to “commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife” and to “heal the wounds of the nation.”

President Lincoln’s proclamation officially declared a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November. He scheduled the day for the final Thursday in November; it was celebrated on that day every year until 1939, when Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday up a week in an attempt to spur retail sales during the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s plan was met with opposition, and in 1941 a bill was passed and signed that made the fourth Thursday in November the official national day of celebration for Thanksgiving.

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The term “thanksgiving” not only means expressing gratitude towards somebody, but it also symbolizes the wonderful feeling of giving thanks.

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Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever. Psalm 106:1 NLT

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all he has done. Philippians 4:6 NLT

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Colossians 3:17 NLT

A Prayer of Thanksgiving
By Joseph Auslander

We thank Thee for our daily bread, for faith by which the soul is fed,
For burdens given us to bear, for help that lifts the heart’s despair.

We thank Thee, Lord, for eyes to see the truth that makes, and keeps us free:
For faults — and for the strength to mend them, for dreams — and courage to defend them.

We have so much to thank Thee for,
Dear Lord, we beg but one boon more:
Peace in the hearts of all men living,
Peace in the whole world on this Thanksgiving.

A Thanksgiving Prayer
By Samuel F. Pugh

O God, when I have food, help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work, help me to remember the jobless;
When I have a home, help me to remember those who have no home at all;
When I am without pain, help me to remember those who suffer,
And remembering, help me to destroy my complacency;
Bestir my compassion, and be concerned enough to help
By word and deed, those who cry out for what we take for granted.
Amen.

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If you liked this story and would like a copy of either of my books,
they are available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle format:

If you have a story or testimony that you think might bless others,
I invite you to send it by email to me (Kenneth Kersey) at godsotherways@me.com.

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