In many ways, Thanksgiving is the quintessential American holiday. Highways and airports are clogged with people traveling from near and far to be together for the holiday weekend. While every culture celebrates times of thankfulness, the America Thanksgiving is unique in its connection with our national and cultural history, dating back to the first Thanksgiving in 1621 with the English Pilgrims and Wampanoag Native Americans at Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Thanksgiving is a day filled with nostalgia. And there’s more to the holiday than turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. It’s also more than just recalling the blessings we enjoy. It can be a celebration that is terribly self-focused if not centered on gratitude to God. As we sing each week in the Doxology, “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow.” It is consistent with James 1:17 where we read that “every good and perfect gift is from above.” Until 2023, every Presidential Thanksgiving proclamation has acknowledge that we are indebted to God for all the blessings we enjoy. (See especially the first one from George Washington in 1789.)