Connecticut western news., 1916-11-30
THANKSGIVING SERMONS
Delivered in Canaan Pulpits, Sunday,
 November 26.
AT PILGRIM CHURCH.


 The text was the first verse of the 44th Psalm: We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us. what work thou didst in these days, in the days of old" Reference was also made to the last verse of the l tn chap ter of Hebrews where it is stated that the great men of faith of the olden time received not the promise. God having so ordained it that "apart from us they should not be made perfect" There fore it behooves us ito run with patience the race that is set before us"
 Thanksgiving has rhree-fold look. It looks toward the past. the present and the future. The typical picture for the Thanksgiving season is one of the Pilgrim fathers with his fowling piece over his shoulder bearing home a wild turkey for the first Thanksgiving dinner. This gave us not only our typical dish for the day, but it gave us the day. This silent figure of the Pilgrim haunts our memories on Thanksgiving nay. We cannot forget him and the spirit that made him set apart a.day for thanksgiving in.spite of the sorrows and hardships through which he had passed and the fact that he was facing second New England winter with its suggestions of further hardships. 1t has been common of late to jest about the stern hard life of the Puritan fathers; but we should be pro- foundly grateful Tor their simple demo- cracy, their vigorous conscience and khas InfN sNf la Ee,V,- ty of God, not only in large affairs but in the life of each man. These princi- ples are the rocks on which our republic was founded and we should thank God for this splendid heritage from "the days of old"
 As we look at the present perhaps our Thanksgiving spirit may be affected by the thought of the high cost of living, and surely we cannot be unmindful of the terrible hunger and suffering inIthe world. How can we then be thankful? Hardship and suffering only add strength to the character of the Pilgrim and today the testimony comes from the hospitals and trenches of Europe that the sufferings and hardships of war have only brought men to the realiza- tion that the real pleasures of life are only to be found in unselfshness and sacrifice. Which man is going to be worth the most to his country, the one who has made millions through the manipulation of intuition stocks or the one who has gained & new nobility and new vision on the battlefieldp
 Thank God that He is giving the world new demonstration in our day of the truth that the real blessings of life come not through having" but through giving"
 The look of Thanksgiving toward tho future is not for blessings we hope to receive. AS we contemplate our splen- did heritage or look at our present blessings, either material or moral, we cannot escape a sense of obligation. We enjoy blessings that were denied our forefathers. Without us their life, their hopes and aims, were incomplete, "were not made perfect" We owe it to them and to the generation which follow us, that our inheritance be pass- ed on not only undiminished but en- tranced in value and brought nearer to its perfect realization. This is a noble task and for it we should be thankful. Let us face the past and present with gratitude and the future with courage and devotion.