Milford chronicle., 1955-11-25
FOR THESE OUR BLESSINGS,
GIVE THANKS

THANKSGIVING LAY Is uu44uClJ Oh FAAilCAA
can feast. That is not to say that IN other
countries people do not count their blessings
and for them give thanks. But the establish
ment by official proclamation of one day IN
the wear for nationwide thanksgiving was
purely American in origin, and its continu-
ance over the years has made 1t one OF our
dearest traditions.
When Governor William Bradford, back
in 1921, babe the Pilgrims to gather with
one accord and hold thanksgiving unto tne
Lord" he was starting something that was
to Become an accepted part of the American
scene. Presidential prOclamatiOns are issued
each year but they are not really needed TO
remind our people that on certain Thurs
dav in November we shall take time off from
our usual pursuits to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Americans did not inaugurate this Gus
tom and maintain it for so long only because
they have had such an abundance OF material
things to be thankful for-although they
have been favored in this respect to an ex-
ceptiOnal degree.
Thanksgiving IS not intended to be, any
more than it was in Governor Bradford's S
time, a day set aside for the SNUG contem-
plation of our possessions and our advan-
tages.
The Pilgrim men and women who gath
cred for the first Thanksgiving festival were
able, with great toll and the help OF friendly
their hunger. But when it came time to pray,
they gave thanks not so much for the wild
fowl and the succOtash on their table, as Tor
the grace given them to survive their ordeal.
They had been blessed with fortitude,
iron power Of will and religious devotion,
qualities that went into the foundations OF
our Nation. They humbly thanked their God
that harvest day because they knew that
without Him they would have perlShed, and
that with Him all things were possible-even
the carving out of the wilderness OF place
they could call home.
We have lost a great deal if we exclude
the spiritual from our Thanksgiving Day and
make it solely a day of party-golng and
gOrging at the table. 1t is the custom TO
have family reunions on Thanksgiving, TO
load the board with turkeys and its accom-
paniments and to round off the occasion with
football games or festive drinking.
These things are all right in their place
so long as they do not Obliterate the reason
for the remember? (which is to
give thanks to Divine Providence.
Not thanks because we happen to be
better off, perhaps, than our neighbOrs, but
thanks that we live in free country, with
all the guns stilled, for the time being at
least: thanks that we are able to worship as
we want, to speak and to assemble freely
that we have free elections and that we can
raise our children without fear of tyranny
or persecution.
This would be a good day, in between
feasting and fun-making, to gather the fam
lily together, and to re-tell the story OF Amer
ica and to give thought and thanks to those
who helped build it and make it great.
This would be good day, too, to express
gratitude for our blessings by giving to
others who are less fortunate. The best way
to enjoy Thanksgiving is to give something,
and for anyone wondering where he should
direct his Thanksgiving charity, the Carlisle
Fire Conpany's drive for funds with which
to purchase new fire tower equipment, which
is substantially short of its goal, could pro-
vide most appropriate answer.
By helping the helpless we can give prac-
tical expression to our thanks for the bless
ings we have enjoyed, and for the gift OF
Gods grace on our land.
&Go@SG
PRODUCTION THE ANSWER
While the desire of industrial employees
for Job security is a natural and proper as
piratiOn steady and plentiful jobs can never
come from economic StablliZatlOn.
1t is growth-not stabilizatiOn of Oul
ecOnomy-which has made it possible fol
us TO produce what we want, with mucE
less working time than it took us a genera
tiOn ago.
Real lob security-steady work and pay
comes only from steadily rising production
Such production springs from the dynami
combination of free management and fre
, labor, under a system which provides incen
tives for everybody to create and produc
goods which people want and need in ever
increasing volume, at prices they can atfOri
to pay.
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