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In 1863 Abraham
Lincoln issued the presidential proclamation setting aside a national
day of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday in November. In the previous
3 years, 1 out of 20 American males over the age of 14 had died
of battle wounds or related diseases in the Civil War. The bottom
50% of the population possessed 1% of the nation's wealth, meaning
that many people labored as servants, field hands, day workers,
haulers, lifters, shovelers, etc. For example, the bakers of San
Francisco had been on strike demanding 12 hour days and Sundays
off, but had given up and gone back to their 15 hour, seven day
a week jobs.* Yet Lincoln began his statement by reminding Americans
that "the year that is drawing toward its close has been
filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies."
In the 136 Thanksgivings since that proclamation, life in our country has changed dramatically. But the fact is, "never have so many been unthankful for so much." Psychologist David Myers attributes this to "the adaptation-level" phenomenon**--the premise that our feelings of success and failure, satisfaction and dissatisfaction are based upon meeting or exceeding prior achievements. Translated into economic terms, this means that yesterday's luxuries become today's necessities.
Living with this outlook, we can perpetually feel that our needs are slightly greater than our resources. We feel poor. Thus, we easily slip into conversations about trying to make ends meet, the things we can't afford, rising taxes, etc. We talk poor.
It should not surprise us that in the non-Christian world around us, people would think this way. According to the Apostle Paul, ingratitude is an innate part of the mind that suppresses the truth about God. ". . . they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks . . ." (Romans 1:21).
But God has transformed the mind of the believer with a different way of thinking. For us, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it." (Psalm 24:1). God is good. He withholds no good thing from his children (Psalm 34:10), but richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." (1 Timothy 6:17).
Thanksgiving is an opportunity to shed our culture's poor talk for the rich talk that is appropriate for those living in God's kingdom. Happy Thanksgiving!
-- Steve Wilson, Pastor
*"The Supreme Luxury of Nostalgia,"
U.S. News & World Report, 12/1/97, p. 9.
**The Inflated Self, David G. Myers, Seabury Press, 1981, p. 8-12.