The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1902-11-28
TRUE THANKSGIVING
1t Involves a Three-Fold Attitude
Towards God.
Recognition of Dependence, of Gifts
and of obligations Essential
--JThanksgiving Day Ser
mon by "Highway and
Byway" Preacher.
copyrighted, 1902. by A. N. Kellogg
Newspaper Company
Chicago. 1902.


The president has issued the Gus
tomary Thanksgiving day proclama-
ton, and the governors of most, If
rot all, of the states have emphasized
the call to the people of this land to
render unto God Thanksgiving for
the blessings to the nation and to the
individual which have been received
during the past year. Our text is in
the imperative mood and, antedatlng
the presidents proclamation by
something over 1900 years, calls to
recognition of Gods goodness and
bounty by it's short, emphatic COM
mand: BE We thankful"
Over a thousand years before
Paul's Divinely-guided hand penned
the words of our text King David is
sued to the kingdom. over which he
ruled a Thanksgiving proclamation,
and l am inclined to think that Paul
had been reading the one hundredth
Psalm before he echoed its sentl-
ments in his letter to the COlOssians.
Paul wrote primarily to the disciples
of Jesus Christ, because they, above
all others, should have thankful
hearts and recognize God as potent
factor in every detail of life, but
David's call is to 'all We lands:"
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord. all
ye lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness:
Come before His presence with singing!
Know We that the Lord, He is God:
1t is He that hath made US, and not we
ourselves.
We are His people, and the sheep of His
pasture.
Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise:
Give thanks unto Him, and bless His
name!
For the Lord is good; His mercy endur-
eth forever;
And His faithfulness unto all genera
tons"
In the light and spirit of the above
psalm and in obedience to the command
of our text, we wish to consider what
are the elements of true Thanksgiv-
ing, and discover the claims which
God has upon us for rendering unto
Him grateful acknowledgment of
blessings both individual and nation
al, and for which one day in each
year is most fittingly set apart.
\ spirit of true thankfulness on
the part of a dependent creature
must issue towards it's benefactor if
there is to exist between the two the
least degree of fellowship and of
communion. Ingratitude separates
as an impossible gulf. The boat
loads of gifts and blessings may con-
tinue to pass from the benefactor to
the recipient, but they can never
build a bridge over the gulf of in
gratitude so as to afford a means
of heart to heart communication be-
tween the two; but recognition of the
blessings and the gifts, and thank
full spirit, can throw out span by
span the bridge over which may flow
the unbrOken current of kindly feel
ing and genuine fellowship. Ingrat-
itude as canker doth eat up and de-
stroy human friendships, and what
is true between man and man is more
infinitely true between man and his
Maker. We need not dwell upon this
point. a moments reflection is suf-
ficient to call to mind instances in
your own life, or the lives of others
with whom you are acquainted,
where ingratitude has wrecked
friendships and terminated the fell
lowship of years. The pride of the
human heart and the selfwill of an
independent spirit are the seeds from
w hich the poisonous plant of ingrat-
itude grows. Mans ingratitude to
man is only exceeded by his ingrati-
tude to God, the Creator and Ruler
OF the universe. What are the ele-
ments of true thanksgiving or thank
fUiHess?
Elements of True Thanksgiving
First of all 1 believe comes recogni-
tion of dependence, and that which
is its correlativc, recognition of the
BenefactOr; secondly, a recognition
of the gifts and blessings, themselves
and in the third place, recognition of
reciprocal obligations. Our text
tells us to be thankful, and David's
Psalm in the rare beauty of its po-
etc lines reveals to us what is meant
by true thanllfulness. a joyful, glad
strain flows through it all, because
there is music in the thankful heart
The opening burst of music is fol-
lowed in the third verse by the call
to recognition of dependence, for we
have not made ourselves, but 1--WE are
His people," by right of creation
And because this is true, know We
that the Lord, He is God: it is He
that hath made u.s. giving us a sub
lime recognition of the Benefactor.
And the strains of our THANKSGIVING
song carry us on then to recogni-
tion of the gifts and blessings re-
ceived, for we ere the sheep of His
pasture, the green pastures and
still waters found there given to the
sheep-everything there for their
comfort and blessing. Then comes,
in the fourth verse, recognition of
reciprocal obligations. Enter into
His gates :. and into His
courts -. and bless His name"
This may appear on the surface a
good deal like a beautiful religious
ceremony, without its practical APP
plicatiOn to everyday life, but 1 be-
lieve if we dig under the surface and
discover the rsal depth of meaning
of this poetic recognition of obliga
tions to God, we shall find that en-
tering into the gates and courts of
God and blessing His name have the
most vital connection possible with