This Thanksgiving 2018, what are you most thankful for?
Note: the graphic in this blog post was created by Stogie of Saberpoint so as to reflect which blessing I personally count every day — that is, the First Amendment, which protects my right to freedom of expression.
Thanksgiving wishes from across the miles from our house to yours. May your home be filled with laughter and happiness!
ReplyDeleteThanksgiving wishes to everyone for a wonderful day. I am most thankful for finding a wonderful Masonic retirement community as well as all the gifts our Republic gives us.
ReplyDeleteI thank God for family.
ReplyDeleteThank God for friends.
Thank God for life,
Even in strife.
What a pity life ends
As we're following trends
Before we could hope
To start making amends!
Live and let live,
And above all forgive.
~ FreeThinke
The Blue Tsunami of 2018!!
ReplyDeleteWhich FAILED to materialize, thank God!
DeleteSomething ELSE for which all decent, right-thinking people should be grateful.
Thanksgiving wishes to you and yours from Tennessee! I'm most thankful !for my wonderful family!
ReplyDeleteREGARDING FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
DeleteSpeedy provokes us almost daily with
A tasty SMOERGASBORD the whole year through.
In that way Seedy's a great blogsmith,
But all ought to enjoy their TURKEY too!
Be HAPPY, don't WORRY. (That really BUGS the LEFT.)
};^)>
Many thanks, Franco! I'm also thankful for all my wonderful blogging friends on BOTH sides of every argument! How boring the world would be without ALL our diversityof thought.
DeleteYes, disagreement CAN be both salubrious and instructive, Speedy, but only when it's HONEST, THOUGHTFUL and not motivated by sheer spite, pettiness, and the wicked urge to destroy out of perversity of spirit that which time has proven to be good.
DeleteHurling metaphorical rocks at one another –– or merely passing snide remarks may be fun at times, but it does not make for fruitful argumentation. Neither does the lamentable practice of expressing haughty condescension.
Do you believe that they don't believe that they are acting in their own self interest?
DeleteFrom what I've been able to see "they" fall into these four categories:
Delete1. Decent, well-meaning, but soft-headed people who've been DUPED.
2. Naturally ill-tempered, captious individuals forever in search of an AXE to GRIND.
3. Lunatics who who have no idea what they're doing.
4. EVIL GENIUSES and MORAL PERVERTS who cynically foment crises –– often violent –– fr the twin purposes of making mischief for sadistic thrills, and gaining dictatorial power, so they can twist people into arbitrary shapes and slap them around at will.
I find them all in category 3...
DeleteI think you must be a good deal kinder and gentler than I, Speedy.
DeleteI hope old age, when it arrives, does not spoil your generous disposition.
Happy Thanksgiving, AOW.
ReplyDeleteMy life, with family, friends and career.....couldn’t be any better. That’s what I’m thankful for.
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving AOW!
I am thankful for all God has given us, mercy, grace, and the Bill of Rights.
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving to you and your family and all who frequent here.
All things good, all things fair.
DeleteAll things beautiful everywhere
Come to earth from Above
From the Father's Heart of Love.
We learnt that in Sunday School when I was still very young, Ed. Funny how it's kept surfacing in my consciousness all these decades! I didn't think when old Miss Muir, our Sunday School teacher, banged it out on the piano and sang it with us in her thin reedy voice that it was the least bit important, bu it planted a seed that grew in my consciousness and has proven itself to be a great blessing –– a most helpful way to look at life, which is after all a Gift from God.
"As the twig is bent, so grows the tree."
I'm most grateful for the parents and teachers I had –– and always for the Church.
God gave us the Bill of Rights?
ReplyDeleteWho knew...
Under what rock have YOU been living, pray tell?
DeleteA better rock than the one YOU have been Living under that's for sure.
DeleteI'm sorry. I shouldn't have askd that provcative question. It was ill-advised and frankly stupid of me to succumb to temptation in that way. It's sad that we so often see the error of our ways too late to prevent the foolishness of throwing more fuel on an unneeded, inapproprtiate metaphorical fire.
DeleteThanks. Apology accepted.
DeleteA Thanksgiving tradition from George Washington to Trump
ReplyDeleteNew York Post
by Editorial Board
November 21, 2018
The first Thanksgiving in the New World was celebrated in 1621, nearly a year after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
In 1789, George Washington became the first of many US presidents to formally proclaim a day of “public thanksgiving and prayer”:
I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
In 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln likewise called for a day of Thanksgiving in November:
I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.
And so it was until President Franklin Roosevelt, in 1939, temporarily moved the celebration back to the third Thursday in November to stimulate Depression-era Christmas sales.
(CONTINUED)
PART TWO
DeletePresident Trump on Tuesday issued his own Thanksgiving proclamation:
On Thanksgiving Day, we recall the courageous and inspiring journey of the Pilgrims who, nearly four centuries ago, ventured across the vast ocean to flee religious persecution and establish a home in the New World. They faced illness, harsh conditions, and uncertainty, as they trusted in God for a brighter future. The more than 100 Pilgrims who arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts, on the Mayflower, instilled in our Nation a strong faith in God that continues to be a beacon of hope to all Americans.
Thanksgiving Day is a time to pause and to reflect, with family and friends, on our heritage and the sacrifices of our forebearers who secured the blessings of liberty for an independent, free, and united country.
After surviving a frigid winter and achieving their first successful harvest in 1621, the Pilgrims set aside three days to feast and give thanks for God’s abundant mercy and blessings.
Members of the Wampanoag tribe who had taught the Pilgrims how to farm in New England and helped them adjust and thrive in that new land shared in the bounty and celebration. ...
This Thanksgiving, as we gather in places of worship and around tables surrounded by loved ones, in humble gratitude for the bountiful gifts we have received, let us keep in close memory our fellow Americans who have faced hardship and tragedy this year. In the spirit of generosity and compassion, let us joyfully reach out in word and deed, and share our time and resources throughout our communities.
Let us also find ways to give to the less fortunate whether it be in the form of sharing a hearty meal, extending a helping hand, or providing words of encouragement.
We are especially reminded on Thanksgiving of how the virtue of gratitude enables us to recognize, even in adverse situations, the love of God in every person, every creature, and throughout nature.
Let us be mindful of the reasons we are grateful for our lives, for those around us, and for our communities. We also commit to treating all with charity and mutual respect, spreading the spirit of Thanksgiving throughout our country and across the world.
Today, we particularly acknowledge the sacrifices of our service members, law enforcement personnel, and first responders who selflessly serve and protect our Nation.
This Thanksgiving, more than 200,000 brave American patriots will spend the holiday overseas, away from their loved ones. Because of the men and women in uniform who volunteer to defend our liberty, we are able to enjoy the splendor of the American life. We pray for their safety, and for the families who await their return.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 22, 2018, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all Americans to gather, in homes and places of worship, to offer a prayer of thanks to God for our many blessings. ...
I
Interesting how we treated the native population after that first Thanksgiving isn't it?
ReplyDelete...because they were so friendly looking as they burned homesteads...
DeleteNo, as we stole their, deprived them of their rights, and KILLED them for doing EXACTLY what we would have done if the rolls had been reversed.
DeleteThey didn't burn homesteads? Who knew?
DeleteWe stole their land and broke treaties with them. What would YOU have done had YOU have done?
DeleteWe stole their land
DeleteMany Native Americans (1) had stolen land from other tribes and (2) didn't really have the concept of private property in their belief systems.
The matter of treaties had problems -- in that once a chief died, according to tribal customs, the new chief wasn't bound by any previous treaty.
I suggest you study Mohawk-Huron relations before you start assigning blame for US-Native relations, anon.
DeleteNative Americans wiped out most of the Native Americans.
DeleteYou'd have a "rational" argument if you could name a single case of an autochthonous people.
DeleteEspecially in light of the FACT of Darwinian evolution.
DeleteHow should the colonists have behaved, anon? How would you have patronized the natives in such a manner as not coming to America wouldn't have been the only option so as not to offend? Perhaps you should go back to Europe now so as to atone?
Delete________ THE PUMPKIN ________
ReplyDeleteOh, greenly and fair in the lands of the sun,
The vines of the gourd and the rich melon run,
And the rock and the tree and the cottage enfold,
With broad leaves all greenness and blossoms all gold,
Like that which o'er Nineveh's prophet once grew,
While he waited to know that his warning was true,
And longed for the storm-cloud, and listened in vain
For the rush of the whirlwind and red fire-rain.
On the banks of the Xenil the dark Spanish maiden
Comes up with the fruit of the tangled vine laden;
And the Creole of Cuba laughs out to behold
Through orange-leaves shining the broad spheres of gold;
Yet with dearer delight from his home in the North,
On the fields of his harvest the Yankee looks forth,
Where crook-necks are coiling and yellow fruit shines,
And the sun of September melts down on his vines.
Ah! on Thanksgiving day, when from East and from West,
From North and from South come the pilgrim and guest,
When the gray-haired New Englander sees round his board
The old broken links of affection restored,
When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,
And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before,
What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye?
What calls back the past, like the rich Pumpkin pie?
Oh, fruit loved of boyhood! the old days recalling,
When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!
When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,
Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!
When we laughed round the corn-heap, with hearts all in tune,
Our chair a broad pumpkin,—our lantern the moon,
Telling tales of the fairy who travelled like steam,
In a pumpkin-shell coach, with two rats for her team!
Then thanks for thy present! none sweeter or better
E'er smoked from an oven or circled a platter!
Fairer hands never wrought at a pastry more fine,
Brighter eyes never watched o'er its baking, than thine!
And the prayer, which my mouth is too full to express,
Swells my heart that thy shadow may never be less,
That the days of thy lot may be lengthened below,
And the fame of thy worth like a pumpkin-vine grow,
And thy life be as sweet, and its last sunset sky
Golden-tinted and fair as thy own Pumpkin pie!
~ John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892)
This was the first Thanksgiving without my mom, who passed away this past summer. I am thankful for the family she created.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, TC. I didn't know your mother had died. In my case at least –– and probably with most of us –– our mothers really were our most important teachers, and our best and truest friends over the long haul.
DeleteThe best thing about it is her influence is part of you, and will remain with you as long as you live. She may not be able to cook for you anymore, but her spirit will live forever, and be with you as long as you remember her with affection and respect.
My mother passed on thirty-six years ago, and yet I can still see situations through her yes, and know what she'd say. In that way she still gives me advice, and we can still enjoy a good laugh together once in a while.
My appreciation of her true worth has only grown stronger over the past thirty-six years. That is the best thing about learning to know someone from spiritual perspective.
At any rate I hope all that proves as true for you as it has for me.
TC,
DeleteMy sincere condolences. First holidays without a beloved parent or other family member are difficult.
Thanks gang. Mom had finally succumbed to her brain injuries from a car accident. She held on for us for two years. The day she passed, back in July, she became extremely lucid. I got to tell her it was okay to let go... the cooking in heaven got better y'all.
DeleteOh, TC!
DeleteMy mom and your mom are having a cook-off in heaven.
My mom, who passed suddenly from cardiac arrest in 1987, was the best cook I've ever known.
BTW, my dad had a lucid moment before he passed in 1998 -- despite all the morphine on board and all the brain damage. That kind of lucid moment is something that we left behind should treasure.
So are we.
ReplyDeleteEveryone forgot to mention the ONE THING for which ALL should be most grateful:
ReplyDeleteTHANKS to the COURAGE, STRENGTH, INTELLIGENCE and SHEER AUDACITY of DONALD J. TRUMP HILLARY ROTTEN CLINTON DID NOT BECOME OUR PRESIDENT.
_______ GOODY GOODY! ________
So you met someone
__ who set you back on your heels - Goody Goody!
So you met your match
___ and now you know how it feels - Goody Goody!
So he put you in your place,
___ proving you were a disgrace
And he broke your pride pieces,
___ and smashed your haughty face.
So you lie awake
___ just singin' the blues all night - Goody Goody!
So you thought that you
___ were a barrel of dynamite - Not a chance, dear!
Hooray! and Hallelujah! you had it coming to ya
Goody Goody for Trump! –– Goody Goody for US!
And I hope you're satisfied, you crooked fool!
~ Apologies to Benny Goodman and Ella Fitzgerald
Long live this thread
ReplyDeleteThough it appears to be dead!
VIvat! Vivat, Sequela!
Good thinking is a great healer.
FYI: I will work on a new post when I have the time to do so. Right now, I’m a prisoner of the medical loop — and of other matters, also, some soothing.
DeleteI am thankful for Jesus Christ, strength in this veil of tears, and hope for tomorrow. Also, the beautiful, warm winter sun today, and God's healing energy from the earth.
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful I don't live in the Middle East, or any of the EU countries trying their little hearts out to become the new middle east.
ReplyDeleteIn thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.
ReplyDeleteBow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.
For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.
Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.
Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.
I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the Lord.
I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.
Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.
For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.
I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.
I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.
For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.
But I trusted in thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my God.
My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake.
Let me not be ashamed, O Lord; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.
Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!
Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
Blessed be the Lord: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city.
For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.
O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.
Psalm 31 - KJV
Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
ReplyDeleteBless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;
To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, O my soul.
Psalm 108 - KJV
A belated Happy Thanksgiving to AOW, and all of her readers.
ReplyDeleteHe, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
ReplyDeleteWhen the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.
Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.
The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it.
A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet.
In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare: but the righteous doth sing and rejoice.
The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.
Scornful men bring a city into a snare: but wise men turn away wrath.
If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest.
The bloodthirsty hate the upright: but the just seek his soul.
A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.
If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.
The poor and the deceitful man meet together: the LORD lighteneth both their eyes.
The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever.
The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth: but the righteous shall see their fall.
Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
A servant will not be corrected by words: for though he understand he will not answer.
[20] Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him.
He that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child shall have him become his son at the length.
An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.
A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul: he heareth cursing, and bewrayeth it not.
The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.
Many seek the ruler's favour; but every man's judgment cometh from the LORD.
An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.
~ Proverbs 29 - KJV
If a ruler harken to lies, all his servants are wicked.
ReplyDeleteSo very true. Trump and his supporters highlight this daily.
Heh....+1.
Delete