Sistersville oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1896-1901, 1898-11-30
Thanksgiving Sermon Preached
BY Rev. Bowden
YESTERDAY FORENOON.
Before Many People in the Pres
byterian Church.
From Fridays Daily.

SiSnln SndplSi VI GS'nSi
In every province, and in every city
whithersoever the Kings COM
mandment and his decree came, the
Jews had JOY and gladness; a feast
and good day, and many people
of the land became Jews, for the
fear of the Lord fell upon them"
The circumstances attending
this commandment and decree of
Ahasuerus causing light, gladness,
10y and honor to the Jews of twenty
FIVE hundred years ago, may be OBJ
tanned from the context. While
they are replete with interest and
suggestiveness, our purpose today
is not an exposition of the text, but
to endeavor to rapidly scan the
pages of history and extract facts
to prove, that, if the Jews, or anJ
other people On the face OF the
globe have reason to observe
Thanksgiving Day." surely we OF
this grand nineteenth century
have much more cause.
We have not gathered in this sa-
cred spot today underline decree OF
any monarch, but of our own Tree
wills, acquiescing to the sentiment
contained in the proclamation OF
our chief executive officer, the
president of our United States of
America, in this language:
Il do, therefore, invite all my
fellow citizens, as we'll as those at
home as those who may be at sea
or solourning in foreign lands to
set apart, and observe, Thursday,
the twenty fourth day of November
as a day of National Thanksgiving;
to come together in their several
places of worship for service of
praise and thanks to Almighty
God for all the blessings of the
year; for the mildness of the sea
sons and the fruitfulness Of the
soil, for the continued prosperity of
the people for the devotion and
valor of our countrymen, for the
glory of our victory, and the hope
of a righteous peace; and 10 pray
that the divine guidance which has
brought us heretofore to safety and
honor may be graciously continued
in the years TO come.
Notice, if you please. the sus-
gestion to give thanks in our
churches, or to publicly worship
the Giver of all our blessings. We
understand worship to be the-"I
thank you" of the heart, an act OF
spiritual politeness, as reasonable
and appropriate as it is improving
and beautiful. A sense OF decency
and gratitude urges US to it, and
the comfort and satisfaction which
it brings is proof of its propriety.
There is something radically wrong,
observes Rev. Theodore Prudden,
Tin our idea of our Father in Heav-
en-, when the thought of giving to
Him is swallowed up in the thought
of getting something from Him,
our religious life require giving.
1t withers under a constant desire
to get" He who has not learned
to worship with a thanksgiving in
the heart inclines to the belief that
there is no being more worthy OF
reverence than Himself. He be-
comes as selfish as Shylock in the
very exercise, one great design, OF
which IS to counteract the selfish
tendencies of life. The very es-
sence of worship or thankfulness
is that in it, self is dethroned and
God is enthroned. So, today, as
we seek to contrast the dreary past
with the cheerful present, let us
lose sight Of man, and give to God
the glory for the marvellous manner
in which He has led US from the
beginning until now. We do not
consider the beginning at the time
of the discovery by Lief Erickson
and other Norsemen, away back in
the eleventh century, although
some few remaining proofs of their
occasional visits are even yet to be
found, as evidenced in the old
stone tower at Newport, but the
early dawn of that beautiful Octo-
Der day in the year 1892, when the
shout of "Laud Ho" was heard
the signal gun 6red-ships lay to,
and at sunrise, amidst the sound
of music and jubilee, Columbus
himself stepped ashore, shook out
the royal banner Of CASTLE in the
presence of the wondering natives,
and named the island San Saliva
dor.
Let US take a cursory glance at