Why Thanksgiving? by Lora E. Clement

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 25, 1915

Why Thanksgiving?

By Lora E. Clement

“WHEN the frost-tinged, golden leaves Come sailing to the sod, And autumn walks the dappled plain With rustling sandals shod,”

then we observe Thanksgiving Day. The name is exclusively American, but its history is parallel with that of God’s chosen people from the time they were first recognized as a nation. Its purpose has been the same through all the ages; and as Israel of old observed the Feast of Tabernacles, so we, at harvest time, turn for a little season from the commonplace, and render special praise and tribute to our Creator and Redeemer, “from whom all blessings flow.”

As a nation we are grateful for the peace and plenty of the past year. We have prospered, while our neighbors have been at war. “The extraordinary circumstances of such a time have done much to quicken our national consciousness, and deepen and confirm our confidence in the principles of peace and freedom by which we have always sought to be guided,” says President Wilson in his Thanksgiving proclamation.

And as individuals what a debt of gratitude we owe! Every moment of every day has been crowded with blessings for you, for me. Thanksgiving in reality cannot be a day; it must be a habit,—a habit so firmly fixed that it will lead us to give thanks for “blessings in disguise” as well as those which come to us arrayed in the mantle of good things. The next time you feel discouraged, “try praising.” Is it not true that we do not glorify God as much as we ought, nor recognize with due gratitude his gifts?

A visitor in northern Michigan tells of visiting the famous Calumet and Hecla copper mine. It was about five o’clock in the afternoon when the company arrived at the mouth of the mine, and the guide asked them to stand still and listen. There was silence for a moment, “and then, coming from the earth beneath their feet, faint sounds were heard. They grew stronger and more distinct as the men waited, seeming like the weird melodies played by the wind on telegraph wires. Nearer and nearer they came, mingled with the creaking of machinery, and resolving themselves at last into the familiar notes of ‘Nearer, my God, to thee.’ In a moment the cage reached the top of the shaft, and the day shift of Welsh miners, who had been singing their way up from a depth of hundreds of feet, stepped out, and, baring their heads, joined in the doxology, and then quietly turned homeward. ‘They do this every night when their work is done,’ said the guide. ‘It is their expression of praise and thanksgiving.’”

Among all the gifts which God has given us, the gift of his only Son for our salvation stands preeminent. An examiner in a school for deaf-and-dumb children asked the question, “Who is Jesus Christ?” A little girl wrote in answer, “He is my very own Saviour.” How true this is and how grateful we should be! Many of us know all about Jesus,—how he came to earth, and lived, and died,—but shall we not claim the fullness of this proffered blessing, and thank God that he is our “very own”?

And so let us on this Thanksgiving Day express gratitude— “For all that God in mercy sends, For health and children, home and friends, For comfort in the time of need, For every kindly word and deed, For happy thoughts and holy talk, For guidance in our daily walk— For everything give thanks!”

LORA E. CLEMENT.