Thanksgiving

“ Thanksgiving, the home-coming day, with its turkey and pie, and jolly good cheer, was our anniversary when married sons and daughters with their children gathered for a feast of red rice and whole fish, gossiping happily while they ate, with the shrine doors open wide and the spirits of kindly ancestors watching over all. ”

“ This week my family celebrated Thanksgiving as most American families did. We gathered around a table filled with the bounty of our great country, and we thanked the Lord for all we have and all we can hope for.
No holiday tradition is more American than Thanksgiving. Indeed, no people have better reasons to give thanks, because no people have been more blessed. ”

“ From my family to yours, I’d like to wish you a happy Thanksgiving. Like millions of Americans, Michelle, Malia, Sasha and I will spend the day eating great food, watching a little football, and reflecting on how truly lucky we truly are.
As Americans, each of us has our own list of things and people to be thankful for. But there are some blessings we all share.
We’re especially grateful for the men and women who defend our country overseas. To all the service members eating Thanksgiving dinner far from your families: the American people are thinking of you today. ”

“ Thanksgiving, in New England, is a holiday of the hearth-stone, a yearly Sabbath, where friends that are scattered meet with a punctuality that seems almost religious. It is a season of little, pleasant surprises; unexpected friends often drop in to partake of the festival. It was not very singular, considering all these things, that good Mrs. Gray should have cherished a fancy, as each of these festive holidays came round, that her long absent brother might return to claim his seat at her table. ”

“ Thanksgiving, when we all bask in the generosity and hospitality of our own family and friends, reminds us that we also belong to a larger community full of people who often are not as fortunate as we are. ”

“ All this was two years before this Thanksgiving; and now Mother Brimmer and the successful business firm and Roly Poly were to have a party!
After the breakfast dishes were cleared away, the boys hurrying off to the shop, as they anticipated a rushing trade for the day, the old kitchen began to assume the aspect of getting ready for some great festivity, while it smelt of spices and boiling sweets clear out beyond the lilacs and down to the front gate. Every passer-by must have known that it was Thanksgiving, and suspected pies and such other accompaniments of the national holiday at once. ”

“ Let us now, this Thanksgiving Day, reawaken ourselves and our neighbors and our communities to the genius of our founders in daring to build the world's first constitutional democracy on the foundation of trust and thanks to God. Out of our right and proper rejoicing on Thanksgiving Day, let us give our own thanks to God and reaffirm our love of family, neighbor, and community. Each of us can be an instrument of blessing to those we touch this Thanksgiving Day-and every day of the year. ”

“ I am not the only great soul at the table. But that is neither here nor there. Thanksgiving is a purely American thing, and it's more popular than ever. A few years ago you never heard of it outside of New England.”
The gentleman laughed. “You are perfectly right, Mrs. Makely, as you always are. Thanksgiving is purely American. So is the corn-husking, so is the apple-bee, so is the sugar-party, so is the spelling-match, so is the church-sociable; but none of these have had their evolution in our society entertainments. ”

“ With baffling persistence the thoughts would begin at the middle, or near the end, or anywhere save at the beginning, and, with happiness and contentment everywhere about him, he finally gave himself over to the merry jingle of Thanksgiving in its seductive accompaniment.
"Indeed it is Thanksgiving!" he mused. "Thanksgiving for Martin and Landy, with the bells a double herald of their happiness. Also for me, as I am nearing the lives of my people, there must be one tone of Thanksgiving, for I am happily giving my life over to this end. Results count. ”

“ Thanksgiving is oral, positive, active. It is the giving out of something to God. Thanksgiving comes out into the open. Gratitude is secret, silent, negative, passive, not showing its being till expressed in praise and thanksgiving. Gratitude is felt in the heart. Thanksgiving is the expression of that inward feeling.
Thanksgiving is just what the word itself signifies—the giving of thanks to God. It is giving something to God in words which we feel at heart for blessings received. Gratitude arises from a contemplation of the goodness of God. ”

“ Yes, your honor, four if you like.
Genius of Thanksgiving. No, two. But your very best. And now, Fairies, the dinner is arranged. The night passes. My sprites must be busy. Go, children, weave a spell over the ovens. Let nothing burn. Have everything well baked. See to the dinners of the poor as well as the rich. Let no one go hungry on Thanksgiving day. And see to it that Ethel Forrester's dinner is complete. ”

“ The cellar had been well banked from the outside, and its darksome cavern held good store of apples, pork, and potatoes. There was dried beef in the stairway, squashes in the cupboard, flour in the pantry, and the great gentle black cow in the barn was a wonderful milker. In three weeks Thanksgiving would come, and even Hannah's brave heart sank as she thought of her absent husband and boys; and their weary faces rose up before [316] her as she numbered over to herself her own causes for thankfulness, as if to say: "Can you keep Thanksgiving without us?" Poor Hannah! ”

“ We're grateful for a harvest big enough to feed us all, plus much of the world. We're grateful for our freedom. We're grateful for our families. And we're grateful for life itself.
So on Thanksgiving Day, we gather with loved ones and we lift our hearts toward heaven in humility and gratitude. ”

“ On this day of Thanksgiving, let our thanksgiving be revealed in the compassionate support we render to our fellow citizens who are grieving unimaginable loss; and let us reach out with care to those in need of food, shelter, and words of hope. May Almighty God, who is our refuge and our strength in this time of trouble, watch over our homeland, protect us, and grant us patience, resolve, and wisdom in all that is to come. ”

“ Today, cognizant of our American heritage of freedom and opportunity, we are again called to gratitude, thanksgiving, and contrition. Thanksgiving Day summons every American to pause in the midst of activity, however necessary and valuable, to give simple and humble thanks to God. This gracious gratitude is the "service" of which Washington spoke. It is a service that opens our hearts to one another as members of a single family gathered around the bounteous table of God's Creation. ”

“ After all, this turkey represents America's 45 million turkeys who will begin making their irreplaceable contribution to our Thanksgiving celebration. So take it easy, turkey, we're just here to serve you.
We all know that Thanksgiving is more than just an occasion to stuff yourself. It's a uniquely American holiday, a time for remembering all the good things that we've been given or asking ourselves what good we can find to do. After all, only America would set aside a special holiday just for the purpose of giving thanks. ”

“ I’m glad we celebrate Thanksgiving, when we sit at our sumptuously laden tables and recall that as a nation we have never gone to bed hungry and that our granaries have never been empty, and reflect that we have one state that can raise corn enough to feed us all. ”

“ But come, boys, let's take our raisins and go up into the garret and play Thanksgiving."
In the corner of the great kitchen, during all these days, the jolly old oven roared and crackled in great volcanic billows of flame, snapping and gurgling as if the old fellow entered with joyful sympathy into the frolic of the hour; and then, his great heart being once warmed up, he brooded over successive generations of pies and cakes, which went in raw and came out cooked, till butteries and dressers and shelves and pantries were literally crowded with a jostling abundance. ”

“ No little eyes brightened, or rosy lips said, “How nice—how glad I am!” and yet the little group, gathered there around the warm fire, were well fed and well clothed; there would be the usual turkey, and mince-pie, and plum-pudding at the Thanksgiving dinner; but grandpapa would not be there. Grandpapa was “gone!” What was Thanksgiving, without grandpapa’s silver head at the table? Little curly heads would miss the trembling hands of blessing; little ears would listen vainly for the faltering kindly voice; little eyes would watch when the hall door opened, but hear no tottering footstep ”

“ Thanksgiving in the country is so delightful, much more so than in the city. Such fine sleigh-rides, and such grand slides on the pond.”
“And the delicious pumpkin pies, and the roast turkeys, and the bowls of sweet milk and cream,” continued Mary, who had followed her sister to hear their mother’s decision. “Oh, it will be so pleasant. And only think, mother, Uncle John is going to have a large party—a regular feast—he says; and Aunt Clara thinks that Lucy and I can assist her very much if you will be so kind as to let us go.” ”

“ We pray thee, on this day of our gratitude, that we may rouse up everything that is humanest in our heart, pledging ourselves anew to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly before thee, Thou our Father and our Mother on earth and in the heavens too. Thus, Lord, may our thanksgiving be worthy of the nature thou hast given us and the heritage thou hast bequeathed. Thus may our psalm of gratitude be a hymn of thanksgiving for millions who have broken off their chains, and for a great country full of joy, of blessedness, of freedom, and of peace. ”

“ Thursday will be a great day, another great Thanksgiving Day, a sort of homecoming for many families this time, full of pride for our brave service men and women, happiness at having them at the table at home, some for the first time in 2 years. ”

“ Today, we, too, pause on Thanksgiving with humble and contrite hearts, mindful of God's mercy and forgiveness and of our continued need for His protection and guidance. On this day, we also remember that one gives praise to God not only through prayers of thanksgiving, but also through obedience to His commandments and service to others, especially those less fortunate than ourselves. ”

“ This form of Thanksgiving grace Miss King had originated. “Each one must give thanks for the day,” she always said; and before the table was seated, each read aloud her verse or bit of prose.
Miss King, who, year by year, dined with each cottage in turn, was this year the guest of the proud Hathaway girls. It was she who gave first the grace she had given on each Thanksgiving for many years:
“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. ”

“ Merry Christmas played a lively air on the piano, and old and young took their positions on the polished floor with grandpa and grandma at the head.
Midsummer danced with Happy New Year, June's Commencement with August's Holiday, Leap Year with May Day, and all "went merry as a marriage bell."
The fun was at its height when suddenly the clock in the corner struck twelve. Grandma Year motioned all to stop, and Grandfather Time, bowing his head, said softly, "Hark! my children, Thanksgiving Day is ended." ”

“ All day my heart has been overflowing with thankfulness; and to-night when I accompanied my sons to the beautiful Thanksgiving party at the big house, where all the young folks from miles around were gathered, and observed their handsome appearance in their Sunday suits and gay new ties, and, still better, their ease of manner, and social graces, my heart swelled with pride almost to bursting. ”

“ Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.
For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 23, 1989, as a National Day of Thanksgiving, and I call upon the American people to gather together in homes and places of worship on that day of thanks to affirm by their prayers and their gratitude the many blessings God has bestowed upon us and our Nation. ”

“ It was one of the good deeds of the old Puritans, this revival of a Thanksgiving festival; it is true, they are suspected of favoring the custom all the more from their opposition to Christmas; but we ought not to quarrel with any one Thanksgiving-day, much less with those who have been the means of adding another pleasant, pious festival to our calendar; so we will, if you please, place the pumpkin-pie at the head of the table to-day.
Surely no people have greater cause than ourselves for public thanksgivings, of the nature of that we celebrate to-day. ”

“ Sharing in God's blessings is at the heart of Thanksgiving and at the core of the American spirit. At Plymouth in 1621, the Pilgrims celebrated their first harvest in the New World thanks to the generosity of their Native American neighbors. In return, the Pilgrims invited these tribal members to share in their harvest festival. At Thanksgiving this year and every year, in worship services and family celebrations across our country, Americans carry on that tradition of giving, sharing not only with family and friends, but also with those in need throughout their communities. ”