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In This Moment

Thanksgiving

President Bush pardoned a turkey today from serving as the centerpiece of someone's Thanksgiving table. An annual tradition since the Truman administration, the turkey's gain has also become a timely distraction for flagging Presidential polls. While President Bush's ratings have been dropping like the proverbial ton of bricks, the turkey story, and his announcement today of the eminent withdrawal of 50,000 U.S. troops from Iraq, should help move that number back up in the coming days. What is good for the turkey is apparently good for the President, and in turn, good for the country. Whatever the political reasoning, we have much to be thankful for in being able to welcome our troops home soon, and we can begin to hope that the war in Iraq will also be over as well.

President Lincoln, when he declared Thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863, faced a very different war. There were no opportunities for troop withdrawals, and this war was not a field trip to another part of the world, but one being fought, quite literally, in the backyards of the country's citizens. What was Lincoln asking our ancestors to do on that first Thanksgiving? What are we asking of ourselves this Thursday as we gather together as a nation to celebrate Thanksgiving once again?

President Lincoln gave the United states of 1863 a great gift when it was needed most. As most wars do, the Civil War had already lasted much longer than anticipated, had ravaged the country's human and material resources, and had almost destroyed all hope of a national future, let alone any normalcy or peace. In offering this first annual day of giving thanks, President Lincoln gave the country back a hope and a future. The country would come through the conflict, be whole once more, and celebrate Thanksgiving together in years to come. What Lincoln was teaching the United States, and asking it to do, was to believe in its collective destiny in order to be able to have the strength to create it when that time came. Lincoln, like Abraham before him, and Martin Luther King, Jr. after him, did not make it to the Promised Land of a reunited country, but he did prepare the country to move forward into a post-Civil War world, to realize hope at a time when hope had walked away, leaving the United States empty handed.

That collective destiny has emerged as a present-day hope we can see in the ongoing creation of a country that is still committed to being a society that cares about and invests in the greater good. Intentionally focusing our attentions on gratitude for even this one day a year directs us toward our own destiny as a country in a much more positive way. A full table, surrounded by people we love and with whom we choose to spend time, is part of the manifestation of what Lincoln's intention was for the United States' families of 1863. Their legacy is now in our hands. Considering our nation's domestic policies and international relations, how can we move this part of the legacy forward, and what legacy are we creating as our contribution for our descendants? How do we make this day about them, and not only about ourselves?

Although a national holiday, Thanksgiving also has faithful roots in our gratitude to God for the abundance in our lives. God, as our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, has blessed us richly, and continues to do so. Jesus' words, "Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours (Mark 11:24)," link faith and gratitude firmly together. Each is necessary in all circumstances to carry us through to that next step, and the one after that, and the one after that, until we are back on solid ground. A deeply spiritual man, I suspect President Lincoln was familiar with this text, and imparted its wisdom to a nation sorely in need of faith in itself to see a future, and create the path to its unfolding. We do well to pay attention to that wisdom again today.

That first Thanksgiving legacy lives on in us. Our country has choices to make about our present and how that will impact our future. Our view of the world, how we fit into the process of healing our planet of old wounds and wars, will be our guiding force. Remembering that our present thoughts, beliefs and prayers are already heard and being manifested, makes that impact immediate and profound. Thank you, God, for the grace to continue.

Until next time, God's blessings.

posted by Cory L. Kemp @ 10:09 PM