Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1912-11-21
CAUSE FOR THANKS
BISHOP e. n. HUGHES

Give thanks at the remembrance
OF his holiness --Psa 30:A
IL the spirit cf gratitude is to be
awakened in tes hearts Of those Who
receive this Thanksgiving message. u
VIII be necessary that We think to-
gether Of some ground that Is unmis-
takably common to all IL h prob
ably true that. II 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
walton 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
ers Of US have clipped down the ALL.
which we had before climbed toward
ease and Independence.
From this you will see that n our
thankfulness is to be unanimous. its
neld must be above our differences In
situation and In opinion. Our xrath
tude must 90 up toward him who is
ha' oNhEt VI tht Faktlls WIN hAE 50
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 10
to be at last the ruler OF all rulers.
In this effort to gain a 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 Il a day for q
personal retrospect The only date
which would challenge its field In this
respect Is New Years day. and that
as even Its name indicates. locks for
ward rather than backward: Il II .
day for resolves rather than for re
membrance. Whatever may be the rea-
son for . mans gratitude. II has 10
do In some form with his memory.
II he is thankful for his future II II
because he throws into II the conf
This Is true in reference even to ths
gratitude that q man would feel for
the promised heaven. He who is thank
full for worldly success gives thanks
because be remembers: he who Is
thankful for bodily health gives thanks
because he remembers. And he who
Is thankful for tie highest things gives
thanks At the remembrance OF Gods
holiness. Thanking is simply remem-
bering seasoned with justice and rev.
erence; IL Is thinking backward over
the past and upward TO God. II is
thought climbing from the lowest 70
the highest II IL the mind travers-
ing its old Journeys. recognizing tina;
Gods company was all along the
ways. and lifting up here and there
memories OF the divine holiness Th~
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 q mans heart arrives
at God. the day Is without meaning
An atheistic people could have no
Thanksgiving day. Such a day with
out God would be an eye with nothing
to see. . voice with nothing to hear, a
heart with nothing to love. II 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 human Kind
for help. and friendship.
But In the ordinary sense n Thanks
giving day is impossible without q
God II is the conception that he
broods In holiness over our lives tha,
alone gave the day It's historic begin
ming and continues It until now This
psaimist thinker leads US straight &c
this thought. True gratitude cannot
stop short OF God II ever a man II
the victim OF his own unfaith. IL musl
be on Thanksgiving day. He cannot
be grateful to nothingness. AT that
time no man can really get on unless
he has a God In deepest truth be
can have no gratitude because 1t Il
impossible for him to obey the com
mand. Give thanks at the remem
brance OF his holiness