Giving Thanks in All Circumstances

Proponents of the Woke Culture would have us abolish the uniquely American holiday of Thanksgiving.

In recent weeks, it has pained me to read a slew of diatribes against the holiday that was formally recognized by Abraham Lincoln but, in fact, has ancient roots in virtually all of the world’s faith traditions. Just as Columbus Day is being replaced by Indigenous Peoples Day, a growing number of people sincerely believe Thanksgiving should not be a day of joyous feasting, but rather a day of mourning.

The latest salvo in the Anti-Thanksgiving campaign comes from George Washington University history professor David J. Silverman’s This Land Is Their Land (2019). Although I haven’t read it yet, book reviewers claim his scholarly work “sheds profound new light” on the “creation and bloody dissolution” of the alliance between the Pilgrims and the Natives. The author apparently argues that our national holiday “celebrates a myth of colonialism and white proprietorship of the United States” and “makes Native Americans feel like second class citizens in their own country.”

Although I’ve become more impervious to continuous efforts like these to re-write American history, this latest attack on a tradition deeply ingrained in our culture has caused me to investigate the matter further. I’ve concluded that at the core of Left’s grievance is their fundamental unhappiness with anything that brings joy to other people. In other words, a holiday that celebrates family, food and football – among other things – can’t be reconciled with a narrative of oppression and outrage. Therefore, its meaning must be discredited if not completely banned.

Why is this? If you look at Lincoln’s purpose in declaring a Day of Thanksgiving, you’ll see that it had nothing to do with feasting or remembering the Pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving, Rather, it was meant to direct the country’s attention to its many blessings despite being in the middle of a civil war that was killing hundreds of thousands of us. Simply put, at a time when Americans had very little to be thankful for, we were asked to be thankful anyway.

The Bible teaches us to “give thanks in all circumstances”. I Thessalonians 5:18. But this is not only a Christian belief. Jews are taught to “be not like those who honor their gods in prosperity and curse them in adversity. In pleasure or in pain, give thanks.” Midrash commentary on the Book of Exodus. There are said to be 23 passages in the Quran and the Sunnah texts that teach being grateful is one of the prime duties of a Muslim. Buddha taught that a person of no integrity is ungrateful and unthankful. Katannu Sutta, Thanissan Bhikkhu translation. I also found similar precepts in several traditional African faiths, as well as some Hindu writings.

Lincoln called upon the “Almighty Hand” to “heal the wounds of the nation” and to restore the Union. That prayer seems as relevant today as it was in 1863.

A holiday that calls all Americans to put aside their differences and be thankful for the blessings of liberty and opportunity seems like a tradition we need to celebrate – not destroy. Despite the political mess we are in, despite the growing gap between rich and poor, and despite a million other problems that remain to be fixed, America still holds as much promise today as it did when our Founders called upon us to give thanks – in all circumstances. Thanksgiving should never be surrendered to those who only seek to drive wedges between us and wallow in unhappiness.

So, have a happy day of thanksgiving America. May God continue to bless us as unworthy as we might be.

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