Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-12-02
THANKSGIVING DAY IS
OBSERVED in 0TTUMW A

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palm branches entwined with myrtle,
together with specimens of fruit, all
symbolized and gave expression to the
gratitude which stirred in every loyal
Hebrew heart. The one joyful cry OF
their hearts was oh! give thanks I'M
to Jehovah; for he is good; for his
loving kindness endureth forever
From the beginning even until now,
the mercy of God had been over them
as a canopy of light, blessing them
with undeserved abundance.
1t perhaps would be too much to
say that we were indebted to the an
cient Hebrews for our annual feast Of
Thanksgiving. Yet while the form of
celebration has changed the spirit
which found expression in the elabor-
ate feast of the Old Testament is the
same as that which manifests itself
through our Thanksgiving day. The
institution is peculiar to the United
States, but the gratitude is not con-
fined to the American continent. II
history informs us correctly these an
nual fireside joys grew out of great
peril and marked deliverance there
from.
The Day of Thanksgiving.
when the little band of pilgrims
entered Plymouth harbor they faced
adversely. The first months saw six
of their heroes dead. Ere the first
summer had passed more than two
score had fallen During the second
summer the heavens refused to give
rains, the fields were barren, the
game departed from the forest, while
the Indians became more unfriendly.
In this dire extremity Governor Brad
ford appointed a day of fasting and
prayer which was turned into day of
Thanksgiving BY Gods opening of the
windows of heaven. with their refresh
ing showers. Before the appointed
fast day arrived the good ship had
cast her anchor in the harbor. bring
ing reinforcements to the depleted col
onists, letters from loved ones far
away and food and medicine for the
hungry and sick
Law, truth, freedom and faith in God
Came with those exiles DER the waves,
And where their pilgrim feet have
The God they trusted guards their
graves.
!" And here thy name o God Of Love,
Their children's children shall adore,
Till these eternal hills, remove,
And Spring adorns the earth no more
Nearly three hundred years have
passed since the pilgrim fathers cross
ed the stormy sea and landed at Ply
mouth Rock The day of fasting has
come to be a day of feasting Each
passing year as it joins the years of
eternity. calls for our increasing graft
tude. The farther we are removed
from our text in years, the nearer we
should some to il in spirit Increas-
ing life with its increasing blessings
calls for deeper gratitude and more
genuine thanksgiving.
Year of Material Prosperity.
"on all sides it is heard and seen
that the year Of our Lord, 1905, has
been the most prosperous of all
years that God has given to our land.
1t has been a year of marked material
prosperity. Never have our fields
been so fruitful and never the vine
yielded increase more abundantly.
Our factories have never been buster
or turned out more products for the
service of man and the comforts of
life. The mines have yielded their
abundant riches. Our land has become
the granary of the world and to us
the nations of the earth are looking
for their food products. All this is in
confirmation of the truth that Gods
mercy endureth forever Away black
in prehistoric times, God is said to
have made a covenant with man in
these terms: While the earth remain
eth, SOW time and harvest and cold
and heat. and summer and winter, and
day and night, shall not cease
The bow in the clouds was to be
the seal of this covenant and the per-
petual witness of Gods enduring mer-
cy. know this sounds rather strange
IN the ears of scientific age. We are
prone to speak OF nature and natures
laws as quite sufficient to account for
the changing seasons and our own
skill and industry quite sufficient to
provide for the necessities of life. But
these laws of nature are the express
sion of Gods eternal purpose. Skill
and industry and cooperation are re-
quired in the production of the harvest
but he is an migrate and lives as if
there were no God, who cannot trace
blessings material back to the Giver
OF all life. The psalmist was not fur
nlshed with the scientific information
of the modern university He lived
however in the larger university Of
Gods universe. Everything moved for
ward and stood fast at the command Of
him who framed the heavens and the
earth. How charming the words OF
the sixty-fifth psalm:
+" Thou visitest the earth and water
est it; Thou greatly enrichest it with
the river of God which is full of wa
ter: Thou providest them corn when