Crittenden press. [volume] (Marion, Ky.) 1879-1907, 1905-11-30
THANKSGIVING!
What Have We to Be Thankful
For2
ny o. a. W

sumbers OF people have but little
sause for gratitude, either for the
fift of life or the conditions under
Fhich they life. But the tcnacity
9TH which the most miserable. the
hopelessly crippled aud Handicapped,
the blind, MANNED, starved and cru.
elly treated, by fate and men. cling
q life, seems to indicate a precious
ness, an inestimable treasure. in
nerely drawing breath and feeling
siiye, even ia some remnant or ray
81 humanity, that could not be pre-
dicated of hand by an onlooker from
she planet Mars, or other remote
spberc.
Deliyerance from immediate dan
Kcf is the immediate cause of the
<eepest emotions of gratitude. And
thereiore, under all its disabilities.
trial, and pains We are called upon to
be grateful for the boon Of breath
and movement, the unspeakable lar
CESS Of the senses that open their
Eve windows into the outer world and
enable US to know that We are not
part aud parcel Of the environment. !
but Independent beings.
IL is a curious fact that the more
straightened we are in circumstances.
the more shattered in health and de-
serted by fortune and favor. the more
tenderly grateful we are for unexpec-
ted mercies, small alleviations. tou-
ches Of love and kindness, that find
the sore places Of being and bring
balm 10 our bruises. IL j. akin to
the deep gratitude one feels for relief
from the torturiSg pain, the ease of
body and soul when lifted from the
rack Of physical suffering we breathe
without groans of agony.
The cessation Of a jumping tooth
ache, or sharp attack of neuralgia.
can awaken in Us sentiments akin 10
deep and pious thankfulness, such as
We never feel because the president
or the governor or the pastor tells MS
20 be thankful on a certain day in the i
year
Still this perfunctory command to
be thankful may have the advantage I
II making us ashamed that that ex-
quisite sentiment is abortiye and hard a
10 rouse. The usual benefits of
friends and home aud sufficient means {
% pay the butcher and grocer do not {
stir us very profoundly. If we should :
lose them all then we would be deep u
IL grateful for a little of what we I
once passed with hardness of heart. j
Nc ought to be very thankful for /
'opr privileges, as citizens of free a
country, in an enlightened age, UNI 5
De- liberal institutions But these 5
ere distractions that only come hcNe c
q us as of personal and vital impor- a
tance when their perpetuity is threat d
ened. In the hour Of peril the city,
the state becomes corporate, liv-
ing being, filled with the life cur I
rents of humanity. The danger of o
destruction of our previous rights '
tnd privileges arouses us to desperate Il
<fort; but when the peril is over and Fl
<he country is saved, we allow the il
good government to trundle along P
without any due sense of gratitude C
Tor its existence. a
There Is an official gratitude to II
which | can subscribe, for good har- II
Vests and the average of business u
prosperity; that no devastating cpl !.
qemic has swept the land; that our +,
part of the land has been free from q
cyclones and tidal waves aud fire and Il
rood have spared us; that OUR stocks "
Rnd bonds have not depreciat- g
ed to the point of ruin, and no over n
'Thelming disaster has laid us low. b
But our usual properties are after
'll commonplace, They possess little q
~ the element of romance and ex- a,
''ement. They illustrate more per. b