The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-11-30
THANKSGIVING.

The annual festival of Thanksgiving
comes to us once more in the swift pas.
sage Of the year Fastening to its close.
Thanksgiving comes to US not on spec
ial date assigned in the calendar of the
year, or as appointed in the regular
round of church anniversaries, but as an
observance set apart by National custom
and by recommendation of the chief
magistrate of the nation and the govern
ors of the several States. The last
Thursday of November is thus recon-
mended to be observed throughout the
length and breadth of the land as day
of thanksgiving. We are called upon as
individuals, as families. as a nation, in
private and in the usual places of wor-
ship, to offer up our thanks to Almighty
God, for the blessings Of the year.
Thanksgiving is perpetual reminder
to the needless and Indifferent among
our people that this Nation is not an
atheistic State; that it recognizes divine
Providence in all the movements of its
history, and acknowledges it's depend
ence upon Almighty God for favor and
blessings. While Thanksgiving Day is
not universally regarded as religious
observance and is made very largely
holiday by the great mass of the people,
this recognition that the Nations peace
and prosperity is dependent upon Su
preme Being, and that our acknowledge
ments are due to him for blessings be.
slowed, is of supreme importance. 1t i'd
the answer of the'Nation to the assertion
so often met with. that the State is ag
nostic and predicatee nothing on the be-
lief in Almighty God. Every Thanks
giving proclamation in the history of our
country controverts this statement and
gives assurance to all that we are not
living under an atheistic or agnostic re-
gime, and that the Nation recognizes God
as the Infinite Ruler and would have the
people duly thankful for the blessings
which are conferred by His bounteous
hand.
The day will this year, as in others
long gone by, be honored in our homes
and in places of worship. While Thanks
giving has in many parts of the country
and among large classes of our popula-
ton, lost its early sanctity as special
religious anniversary, yet myriads of our
people the country over will observe the
day with praise and prayer. 1t will be
remembered in our homes, not alone as a
social festival, but at the family altar.
Childhood will again learn the lesson of
Thanksgiving from pious parents who
will impress its teaching on the young
and receptive mind. The lesson of
Thanksgiving duty and privilege will be
enforced from the pulpit and the good
old custom of assembling in the house
of God to review the blessings of the
year and to kindle the heart into a re-
sponsive spirit for the benedictions of
Divine Providence. will be recognized
by appropriate religious services. And
in the home the members of the family
will gather around the table of earthly
bounty and fill the chairs at the home
tireside, with recognition. expressed or
implied, of the goodness that has attend
ed the earthly pathway and made posi-
BILE rich gifts of the Divine Love. at is
a beautiful and wholesome custom" as
one has written in a Thanksgiving
homily, land should be honored by all
possible sacrifices. 1t is one of the best
preparations for the profitable spending