The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1903-12-04

~ EIH%u@gM to us as 1ndlvld-
uals, as well as
@= nation. There has
been a tendency,
since the day became fixed as a ma
tional holiday, and was regularly des-
fgnated each year as such, to suDordl-
nate the true spirit and purpose OF the
day to the sports and festivities which
have crowded into its observance. 1t
is the day of the great football con-
tests, it is the day of feasting. and par
ties and merry making and pleasure
seeking, but it is no longer the day which
fills the churches with their devout con-
gregationS whose hearts rise to GOD
IN thankful recognition of His goodness
and mercies. In old New England, where
the day as observed in this country had
its origin, Harriet Beecher Stowe tells
us that, great as the preparations were
for the dinner and the festivities of the
day, everything was SO cOntrived that
not a soul in the house should be kept
from the morning service of Thanksgiv-
ing in the church" But to-day it is not
SO. Church attendance is the excep-
ton rather than the rule. In most places
the union service of half dozen differ
respectable audience. Instead of every
church being filled with its thank-offer-
ing. praise-giving people. the large ma
jOrity of them stand mute and empty,
while the families which should be
there are busy with the pleasures and
festivities of the day. This is dishonor-
ing to God, violation of the purpose Of
the day. and disrespectful Indifference
to the request of the president, that the
people Of the land shall gather in their
respective houses of worship and there
render unto God thanksgiving for the
blessings which He has bestowed during
the past year.
T HUS is lost to the individual and,
l through the individual, to the ma
ton the real power and blessing of
Thanksgiving day. Our text reminds us
that God is the giver of all good The
tremendous crops of grains and fruits
and vegetables of which this nation
boasts and OF which abundance thou
sands of tons of food stuffs are sent to
feed other nations, all come from God.
The coal and iron and gold which man
takes out of the bowels of the eartk
and by which he is warmed and his in
duStrieS created and run were first
hidden in the ground by God The fish
of the rivers and lakes and seas, the
fowls of the air, the cattle and sheep
and horses on the thousand hills and
the plains are the gift of God for tho
blessing of man. The very life which
throbs in mans veins and makes him
different from the rocks which lie cold
nd OF h
God. The sunshine and the rain are
sent by God. All, all comes from God,
for every good and perfect gift is
from above and cometh down from the
Father of Lights" And because this
is true we call our Heavenly Father the
Bountiful God, and at Thanksgiving
time His bCuntifulness should receive
special recognition. Devout and hum
ole thanksgiving should rise from
every heart to God Who gives all good
and perfect gifts. Our Thanksgiving
message is of the Bountiful God, and
we want TO take away the indefinite
and meaningless thought of God and
engraft in its place deep conscious
ness of the personal relations of God
the Creator and Giver to man the crea-
ture and the recipient The farmer
needs to lift mis- gaze above the tassel-
ing corn tops and the crowded barns
and sranarieS; the man in commercial
life must look above the gold which
1ingles over his counter as he buys and
sells; the clerk at his desk or behind
the counter and the workman at his
bench should see beyond and above the
task and the pay envelope which the
employer passes out: the professors
books should lift higher than the hui
man; the scientists telescope should
reach beyond the stars. There should
be consciousness of God in the heart
Of all-that He is the Bountiful God.
the Giver OF all good. This is not
merely sentiment; it is a definite con-
ception of God based upon fact
r, Old as the Giver of all good must
" be the source of all good. Con-
slider this proposition carefully. 1t
suggests God as the proprietor of the
vast supply house of the universe. AS
Creator, God has filled this supply
house with every good and perfect gift
for man. AS Ruler of the universe,
he has maintained the supply through
out the ages of mans existence upon
earth. And as Giver He has bestowed
these inexhaustibIe gifts upon man
Let us consider first, then, God as
Creator. Evolution cannot eliminate
God as the primary factor from His
universe. The theory of evolution may
explain the orderly meJnods by which
Gods infinite power has called into
being every created thing, but it does
not explain God away. neither does it
disprove the story of creation as re-
corded in the inspired Word Of God