The Washington herald., 1920-11-25
Common sense in an uncommon degree is wha
the world calls widom-Coleridge
Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving.

the Pilgrim settlers at Plymouth, and goes
back to 1923. 1t was harvest festival then,
and SO 1t is now; but it crystallized into a. per
manent function in the life OF the people first of
the New England colonies and States and then
later INTO national declaration OF gratitude it took
on two other aspects which never have ceased to
make It mean much to the natioa
Families took it over and made it plav its mart
in binding them together. Kinsfolk sat down to
the board on that day, If by any chance the wan
derer could get home. Teachers of religion and
ethics seized on it as opportunity to set forth
CIVIC and personal ideals Together the tics of
family and state thus interviewer; and while
nothing was spared to please the legitimate appe-
ttes OF the physical body, neither was there failure
to stress the joy OF parenthood and the duties of
the freeman IN free state How much the nation
owes to this combination cannot be computed but
1t is vast debt
The stress and strain of the revolution against
British rule lead Congress to utilize the day for
StablIzing the confidence of the colonists in the
business OF their cause and to inspire them to con-
trnual sacrifices OF men and wealth Thus were the
people OF the colonies south and west OF New Eng
land brought to practical knowledge of the worth of
, day that previously had been specially New Eng
lands own. AS the New Englanders pioneered into
the interior they took the holiday with them The
country came steadily to point OF willingness to
let the Pgrm=originatng feast become national
rite and Abraham Lincoln set an example of exccu-
tive approval which has been initiated BY all his
successors
If an analysis OF the Presidents and governors
proclamations to be made it would disclose
that both in times OF national depression and ma
tional JOY the faith defined has been sngularly con-
slant to belief in Providence who has good will
toward humanity, and who deserves mans gratitude
The dominant thestic belief of a majority OF the
he tIed h,yC Cbr;s-
tians and by Jews, by Roman Catholics and Prot
estants, has almost invariably found orthodox de-
tense IN these state papers; and it is character
istlc OF the latest proclamation by President Viii
it was in William Bradord's first call to his
little handful of associates in the Plymouth of 1924
European secularists and their allies now resident
in this country, may not understand how this can
be and they may resentit; but the fact remains
Most Americans today believe that a God reigns
and that they Him thanks for His manifold
goodness" to quote the 1920 Presidential procla-
Ination.
But these official proclamations issued through
the years usually have had one other common fea-
ture They have urged the thankful" to be service
able to the nation and to the world Residents
within favored land not only to be thankful
Ito God, but dutiul to society. Those whose barns
overhowcd with food have been urged to care for
the underfed. Obligations have been pointed out as
well as rights to be maintained. Worship has been
extolled, but service man decreed as imperative
If national material strength has been deemed some
thing to be grateful for, national spiritual advance
toward republic Of God on earth has been imag-
med and set above all other attainments
- The peril of the Thanksgiving festival always
has been that it would be content to exist on the
comparative and not the superlative plane In too
many it no longer includes the element of
worship. The social side of it can be overdone
1t is undermined in many centers of population by
mad passion for sports. 1t has educational pos
sibilities in cvics which the fathers utilized better
than some OF their sons do.
The world is standing today on the edge of an
abyss, says former Ambassador Bryce. The United
States is much farther away from the edge of
the yawning chasm that it may not realize ade-
quately just what its present duties are, precisely
because it has so much to be thankful for. Some
preachers today will need to be careful to avoid
taking the Pharisees attitude 81 thank thee that
not other are" 1t is not day for ma
tional vaunting but for humanity it is day for
goating what have safely invested but
what we have to give away-say to the mil
lions Of foodless children in Europe who if we do
not suecor them this winter will die We need to
watch carefully least a Divine favor that
may turn to wrath because of hardness of heart