Almost from the very beginning of America the call to give thanks to Almighty God has been heard in the land. Even before the Pilgrims settled in Massachusetts the proclamation of Thanksgiving was sounded upon these shores.

One of the earliest recorded celebrations occurred a half century before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in 1621. “A small colony of French Huguenots established a settlement near present-day Jacksonville, Florida. On June 30, 1564, their leader, René de Laudonnière, recorded that ‘We sang a psalm of Thanksgiving unto God, beseeching Him that it would please Him to continue His accustomed goodness towards us.”

In 1607, 13 years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, a group of 104 English men and boys began a settlement on the banks of Virginia’s James River. They were sponsored by the Virginia Company of London, whose stockholders hoped to make a profit from the resources of the New World. The community suffered terrible hardships in its early years, but managed to endure, earning the distinction of being America’s first permanent English colony.

In 1610, after a hard winter called “the starving time,” the colonists at Jamestown called for a time of thanksgiving. This was after the original company of 409 colonists had been reduced to 60 survivors. The colonists prayed for help that finally arrived by a ship filled with food and supplies from England. They held a prayer service to give thanks.

While none of these Thanksgiving celebrations were an official national pronouncement (no nation existed at the time), they do support the claim that the celebrations were religious. “Thanksgiving began as a holy day, created by a community of God-fearing Puritans sincere in their desire to set aside one day each year especially to thank the Lord for His many blessings. The day they chose, coming after the harvest at a time of year when farm work was light, fit the natural rhythm of rural life.”

In July 1776, the American colonists declared independence from Britain. The months that followed were so bleak that there was not much to give thanks for. The Journals of the Continental Congress record no Thanksgiving in that year, only two days of “solemn fasting” and prayer.

For much of 1777, the situation was not much better. British troops controlled New York City. The Americans lost the strategic stronghold of Fort Ticonderoga, in upstate New York, to the British in July. In Delaware County, Pa., on Sept. 11, troops led by Gen. George Washington lost the Battle of Brandywine, in which 200 Americans were killed, 500 wounded and 400 captured. Early in the morning of Sept. 21, another 300 American soldiers were killed or wounded and 100 captured in a British surprise attack near Malvern, Pa., that became known as the Paoli Massacre.

Philadelphia, America’s largest city, fell on Sept. 26. Congress, which had been meeting there, fled briefly to Lancaster, Pa., and then to York, a hundred miles west of Philadelphia. One delegate to Congress, John Adams of Massachusetts, wrote in his diary, “The prospect is chilling, on every Side: Gloomy, dark, melancholy, and dispiriting.”

His cousin, Samuel Adams, gave the other delegates — their number had dwindled to a mere 20 from the 56 who had signed the Declaration of Independence — a talk of encouragement. He predicted, “Good tidings will soon arrive. We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid and protection.”

He turned out to have been correct, at least about the good tidings. On Oct. 31, a messenger arrived with news of the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga. The American general, Horatio Gates, had accepted the surrender of 5,800 British soldiers, and with them 27 pieces of artillery and thousands of pieces of small arms and ammunition.

Saratoga turned the tide of the war — news of the victory was decisive in bringing France into a full alliance with America. Congress responded to the event by appointing a committee of three that included Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia and Daniel Roberdeau of Pennsylvania, to draft a report and resolution. The report, adopted Nov. 1, declared Thursday, Dec. 18, as “a day of Thanksgiving” to God, so that “with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts, and consecrate themselves to the service of their divine benefactor.”

It was the first of many Thanksgivings ordered up by Samuel Adams. Though the holidays were almost always in November or December, the exact dates varied. (Congress didn’t fix Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday in November until 1941.)

In 1778, a Thanksgiving resolution drafted by Adams was approved by Congress on Nov. 3, setting aside Wednesday, Dec. 30, as a day of public thanksgiving and praise, “It having pleased Almighty God through the Course of the present year, to bestow great and manifold Mercies on the People of these United States.”

When the nation was finally established the First House of Representatives on Thursday, September 24, 1789, voted to recommend—in its exact wording—the First Amendment to the states for ratification. The next day, Friday, September 25, Congressman Elias Boudinot from New Jersey proposed that the House and Senate jointly request of President Washington to proclaim a day of thanksgiving for “the many signal favors of Almighty God.” Boudinot said that he “could not think of letting the session pass over without offering an opportunity to all the citizens of the United States of joining, with one voice, in returning to Almighty God their sincere thanks for the many blessings he had poured down upon them.” and on October 3rd of that year President George Washington made the first Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation.

On October 3, 1863, Abraham Lincoln declared that the last Thursday of November 1863 would be set aside as a nationwide celebration of thanksgiving. His proclamation stated that:

“No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the most high God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy…. I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday in November next as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent father who dwelleth in heaven.”

Starting with Lincoln, United States Presidents proclaimed the last Thursday in November for Thanksgiving. Franklin D. Roosevelt changed the celebration to the third Thursday in November “to give more shopping time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. At this point Congress enacted the ‘fourth Thursday’ compromise.” Ever since this pragmatic and commercial approach to Thanksgiving was promoted, its original meaning has steadily been lost.

As a nation we owe a debt of gratitude to those who arrived here before us and set in place the practice of offering Thanksgiving to God for the preservation of this great nation. Without which I fear this young nation would have been lost before it even began. Although many today attempt to remove the foundation Religion played in the formation of this nation, it is quite clear to this reader that the Divine Providence of God was responsible for the very survival of these United States of America. Thanks be to God!

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Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor
Insight for your “Journey across the Sky”
A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres32.html

Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, Mar. 4, 1865 16th president of US (1809 – 1865)

mal·ice Pronunciation: \’ma-lis\ Function: noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin malitia, from malus bad Date: 14th century

1 : desire to cause pain, injury, or distress to another

2 : intent to commit an unlawful act or cause harm without legal justification or excuse.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/malice

What a different time we are currently living in. The current resident of the White House has a tendency to turn people groups against one another. He has a propensity to promote envy and strife amongst fellow countrymen. In Lincoln’s time our country was facing a far worse problem than the one we are currently facing. The nation was  torn apart by a vicious civil war. Brother was fighting brother and neighbor was at war with neighbor, both thinking they were in the right. Lincoln had a vision of a unified nation, one nation under God. He was striving to keep the unity of the nation  together. After the war had ended, and many were wounded in the battle, a time of healing needed to take place.

Lincoln called upon the goodness of our nation to bind up the nation’ wounds, to look out for each other, to forgive past errors and move forward. Today we have this constant refrain of how WICKED and BAD AMERICA IS. We have the President of these UNITED STATES endeavoring to divide this great country by stirring up class envy (the haves against the have nots) racial divisiveness, and political party bickering. This US VERSUS THEM mentality is not going to make this country stronger but only bring about it’s ruination.

For wherever there is jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry and selfish ambition), there will also be confusion (unrest, disharmony, rebellion) and all sorts of evil and vile practices. James 3:16 (AMP)

America has it’s faults, many of which have been brought about by greedy men, and corrupt legislators. It has invaded all walks of life and can be found in all sectors of our society. We as a nation need to repent of our evil deeds and work toward a more perfect union. It takes all of us willing to overlook the faults and failures of a few and strive to uphold the basic moral foundation upon which this great nation was established. If we toss aside all that our founders envisioned when fashioning this new nation, then we toss aside all that it means to be America.

We are not like the rest of the world.  We are not a clone of former states and civilizations. Over 200 years ago our forefathers birthed upon these shores a great new nation conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. We have all been endowed by our Creator  with certain inalienable rights, that among these are the right to LIFE, LIBERTY, and the PURSUIT of HAPPINESS. We are not a nation that should seek to punish those who succeed, but remember it was upon this foundation of individual freedom that many have fought and died.

But if you criticize and attack each other, be careful that you don’t destroy each other. Gal 5:15 (GW)

It would appear that once again we are engaged in a great war to see whether this nation so conceived, can long endure. Our Constitution and the rights it protects is being assailed by those who do not value the principles set forth therein. This was a Constitution which set forth to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. The founding document of this great nation does not need to be interpreted, rewritten, amended, or reworded, it needs to be defended. It establishes the safeguards to our individual rights and freedoms. If the Constitution is shredded and destroyed, so too shall our rights as individuals vanish, and this nation will cease to be.

Our Constitution and its defense of individual rights, is being assailed from the White House to the court house. We see rioting in the streets as individuals are being vilified for their pursuit of happiness. Envy and malice was on full display when an angry mob of malcontents swarmed the homes of  some of our fellow citizenry. The trespass against these citizens is a trespass against us all. We, as a nation, can not turn a blind eye as some in our society are vilified for achieving the American dream, and demonized for living the life that the Constitution guarantees for us all. If we continue this course of action of criticizing and attacking each other, then we as nation will be destroyed.

It is time we put aside our petty grievances and embrace once again the greatness of America and what she stands for. Liberty and justice for all. It is time we embrace LIFE and uphold LIBERTY and mete out JUSTICE with an eye toward heaven, knowing that we all are being judged by a higher and greater authority. The very authority recognized by our founders, which endowed us all with these INALIENABLE rights. Rights that need to be honored not abhorred. Rights which need to be protected  not discarded. Rights for which our forefathers fought and died. We have been endowed with these rights from on high, but if we fail to acknowledge this endowment, then we do not deserve to retain it.

Let us therefore humble ourselves and pray that this freedom we so long enjoyed remains, and this nation and it’s government, thus established, will long endure. We do not need to remake America but we do need to REMAKE our citizenry. We do not need to RE-ESTABLISH another nation, we just need to REMEMBER ours, for the greatness she once stood for, and the freedoms she represents.

May this nation established by rule of the people, by the people, and for the people ever endure. And endure she will if in God we truly place our trust. May God continue to bless America.

“[It is a] great truth that industry, commerce and security are the surest roads to the happiness and prosperity of [a] people.” –Thomas Jefferson to Francisco Chiappe, 1789. Papers 15:405 http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff0100.htm

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

Along for the journey

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In*au`gu*ra"tion\, n. [L. inauguratio a beginning: cf. F. inauguration.]

1. The act of inuagurating, or inducting into office with solemnity; investiture by appropriate ceremonies.

2. The formal beginning or initiation of any movement, course of action, etc.; as, the inauguration of a new system, a new condition, etc.

_{Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.}

Near Sheep Gate in Jerusalem was a pool called Bethesda in Hebrew. It had five porches. Under these porches a large number of sick people—people who were blind, lame, or paralyzed—used to lie. One man, who had been sick for 38 years, was lying there. Jesus saw the man lying there and knew that he had been sick for a long time. So Jesus asked the man, “Would you like to get well?” The sick man answered Jesus, “Sir, I don’t have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I’m trying to get there, someone else steps into the pool ahead of me.” Jesus told the man, “Get up, pick up your cot, and walk.” The man immediately became well, picked up his cot, and walked. John 5:2-9 (GW)

The Pool of Bethesda was located on the eastern side of the city near the Fortress of Antonia. The name Bethesda means "house of mercy."

 

The water source was a nearby spring. Recent archaeological discoveries have confirmed the Biblical account, that there were five porches and the fifth one divided the rectangular pool into two separate compartments. Josephus wrote about the Pool of the Sheep-market.

http://www.bible-history.com/sketches/ancient/pool-bethesda.html

There is a loud cry of discrimination and inequality being heralded throughout our land. There are those who may feel like this crippled man, that there is no one looking out for them, there is no one to give them a hand out, there is no one to help them attain their goals. So here they sit and wait and complain about being discriminated against.

We are about to inaugurate a leader who made us cry YES WE CAN but then says NO YOU CAN’T. Our new leader seems to think that the government has the cure, while simultaneously ignoring the huge pool of opportunity sitting right before us. He promises that all can drink from the public pool of funds collected from those who have been healed by the pool’s waters of opportunity, yet he does not offer to lift anyone into the pool to actually be healed.

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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. —George Washington

Abraham Lincoln gave his second Inaugural Address on March 4, 1865, as the Civil War was raging. He said, “Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.”

Lincoln’s next paragraph is especially appropriate for Veterans Day:

“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”

When President Lincoln finished his classic oration, he reportedly kissed the Bible and left the platform. He was assassinated the next month.

The freedoms we enjoy in this country did not come without sacrifice. The lady who stands on Liberty Island may be holding a tarnished lamp but the hope she stands for remains. The hearts of every American who thanks God each day for the greatness of America will keep that torch burning brightly. When the last soul falls to death and there is no one left to stand up for freedom for all, then the light will fade into darkness.

Here is hoping that day never comes.