The Green Forest tribune., 1912-11-22
CAUSE FOR THANKS
BISHOP E. H. HUGHES.

Give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. ."-Psa. 30:4.
 If the spirit of gratitude is to be awakened in the hearts of those who receive this Thanksgiving message, it will be necessary that we think to- gether of some ground that is unmis- takably common to all. It is prob ably true that, if we wished to do so, we could find reason for thankful ness in the material side of our lives; for we have not been reduced to star vation or nakedness or homelessness, But without doubt there would be vast differences among us in this respect, Some of us have walked with steady feet up the ascent of prosperity. 9th CTS of us have slipped down the hill' which we had before climbed toward ease and independence.
 From this you will see that If our thankfulness Is to be unanimous, it's field must be above our differences in situation and in opinion. Our grati- tude must go up toward him who is the owner of the earth, with its sill yer and gold, toward him who by the discipline of the worlds suffering pre- pares men for the painless and death less country; toward him who pre- sides over all our partisanship and IS to be at last the ruler of all rulers. In this effort to gain common and lofty ground for our gratitude, let us raise our thanksgiving to the very highest thing and let us heed this an cient commandment, Give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness"
 You will note that this text con meets thanksgiving with remembrance. Perhaps more than any other day in the year this holiday is a day for personal retrospect. The only date which would challenge its field in this respect is New Years day, and that, as even its name indicates, looks for ward rather than backward; it is day for resolves rather than for re- membrance. Whatever may be the req son for mans gratitude. it has to do in some form with his memory. If he is thankful for his future it Is because he throws into it the cont1- dence that he has won from his past. This is true in reference even to the gratitude that a man would feel for the promised heaven He who is thank ful for worldly success gives thanks because he remembers; he who is thankful for bodily health gives thanks because he remembers. And he who Is thankful for the highest things gives thanks at the remembrance of Gods holiness. Thanking is simply remem- bering seasoned with justice and rev erence; it is thinking backward over the past and upward to God It is thought climbing from the lowest to tue highest It is the mind travers- ing it's old journeys, recognizing that Gods company was all along the ways, and lifting up here and there memories of the divine holiness. The word of the psalmist thus states the process through which one must come to his real thanksgiving.
 But we have here given not merely the path along which gratitude comes, but also the goal which gratitude must reach. Unless a mans heart arrives at God, the day is without meaning. An atheistic people could have no Thanksgiving day. Such day with out God would be an eye with nothing to see, a voice with nothing to hear, heart with nothing to love. It Is true that men might have a Thanks giving day wherein they should pass from house to house and from man to man, giving praise to humankind for help, and friendship.
 But in the ordinary sense a Thanks giving day is impossible without a God It is the conception that he broods in holiness over our lives that alone gave the day it's historic begin ming and continues it until now. This psalmist thinker leads us straight to this thought. True gratitude cannot stop short Of God. If ever man is the victim of his own unfaith, it must be on Thanksgiving day. He cannot be grateful to nothingness. At that time no man can really get on unless he has God. In deepest truth he can have no gratitude because it is impossible for him to obey the com mand, Give thanks at the remem- brance of his holiness"