Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1907-11-22
THANKSGIVING.

Before another issue of the SENTINEL the
Thanksgiving season will have passed but
the days preceding it may we'll be days of
reflection and preparation for what should
be solemn season of rejoicing, not 80 much
in the sense of hilarity as in the sense of
acknowledgment of an over ruling Provi-
dence and our constant dependence upon it.
At the moment wide spread disturbance
in the business world is taxing the resources
and ingenuity OF all classes OF the people,
and the unrest and anxiety and discomfort
of abnormal conditions tend to divert mems
minds from the thoughts most becoming to
the day but still moments retrospect re-
veals a year rich in blessings and al
ready riffs in the clouds betoken the return
of sunshine.
A people to whom has been vouchsafed a
plentiful harvest, 10 whom no note of war
has come, to whom the opportunity for work
was open with the offer Of liberal wages, who
have been visited by no scourge of disease,
and whose future seems TO be secure, have
abundant cause TO be thankful and the sin
Of thanklessness should be stranger to their
thoughts.
If momentary arrest Of the tide Of pros
perity-bearing the perils of pride and in
ordinate self confidence-causes US to pause
for reflection and to go forward with a sober
and steader pace, little time will teach as
that this, too, is cause for thanksgiving, and
that it was after all the hand of loving kind.
ness that held us back from the precipice
beyond which lay the chasm Of ruin and
anguish. To be saved from
"The fasehood Of extremes"
means much to nation, and should awaken
glad 1S Deums In the hearts Of all the people.
Perhaps there is nothing for which We
should be more thankful than for the strength
we possess to meet the future. As the gar
nered fruits of the field give assurance that
the needs of the body will be supplied, the
experiences Of the past year and its fore
runners give assurance that diligence and
earnestness and right thinking in the per.
Torrance of our duties as citizens and neigh.
bors will promote peace and order in the
State and advance its prosperity and wealth
in such fashion that all will share it. And
so useless antagonisms will subside as the
years go by, men working side by side will
come to know each other better, and all will
be stronger because each helps the other.
But all these things depend in larger mea
sure than we are accustomed to believe, up.
on the spirit in which men accept the gra-
cious gifts Of Providence. In the flush of
success we are often tempted to regard our
selves as the architects Of our fortunes" in
moments of anger or depression, we often
blame others for the consequences of our
own weakness or folly. But the genuine
success which brings to one the regard and
confidence of his fellows comes from follow
ing the laws Of God in tho up building Of
character, and failure from the violation Of
them. Whatever, therefore, we gain as life
moves on is cause for thanksgiving; and
amid the rejoicing of the day and the plenty
of the feast let Us not forget to remember
with reverent gratitude the Great Giver
who sends the latter and the early ram,
and has declared that "W lille the earth re-
maineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and
heat, and summer and winter, and day and
night, shall not cease"