Remember the Purpose of Thanksgiving: Give Thanks to God for Blessings

I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. This federal holiday, which is also a state holiday in every State in the Union, was established by President George Washington to give thanks to God for the blessings of America, both material, in terms of its bounty, and political, in terms of independence and liberty. It commemorates the first Thanksgiving celebration and feast given by the Pilgrims in Massachusetts in the Seventeenth Century in thanksgiving to God for the bounty of the harvest they were able to enjoy through their friendship with the local Native Americans and for their freedom to practice their religion. It is easy to focus on other aspects of the custom of celebrating this holiday and upon divisive political misinterpretations of it, but it is important to remember its original purpose because the Founding Fathers understood, as expressed in the American Creed in the Declaration of Independence, that the freedoms and rights of everyone come from God, not Man. Because faith in God is an essential safeguard for liberty, it is therefore appropriate that government acknowledge the divine source of its power, which is given to them through the People whom God created equally. Thank God for the blessings of prosperity and liberty.