Something which drives me nuts is how we here in America forget to thank others when they do things to help us or make our world a better place. It can be as simple thanking another driver for letting us in the road when traflic is backed up or writing a note to a teacher who has helped our child or just thanking another for holding the door open. We don’t write thank you notes anymore for the Christmas and birthday gifts we get. I would never think of not writing a note of thanks for a gift I have been given.

Perhaps that is why I like the holiday Thanksgiving. We also don’t thank the Lord for how He has blessed us. Every Thanksgiving Day it has become a tradition of mine to write a thank you note to God.

To see what kinds of things we should be thankful for watch my current You Tube video Thank You (Thanksgiving Day.)

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week, Americans gather with loved ones to celebrate Thanksgiving. This holiday season is a time of fellowship and peace. And it is a time to give thanks for our many blessings.

(Read and or listen to the rest of the  President's Thanksgiving Message at one of  the  links below.)

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/489989.aspx 
or Bush Sends Message of Thanks .)

As every school child knows, the Pilgrims arrived in the New World in the winter of 1620. After a difficult struggle for survival, by October 1621 the Pilgrims could celebrate a successful harvest large enough to sustain the colony in the coming winter. The grateful Pilgrims invited their Indian friends to a three-day feast of thanksgiving to God.

That's where the story typically ends—for us. But the Pilgrims’ survival would remain in jeopardy as famine and disease stalked the fledgling colony for years to come. And yet, no matter how difficult things got, they never failed to offer thanks to God.

What better lesson for us as we gather this Thanksgiving with friends and loved ones? Sure, these are hard economic times. We’re watching the economy crumble before our eyes.

(The above is part of a radio commentary Chuck Colson did. Lets follow the Pilgrims example and keep thanking God even when we go through tough times. Read the rest of the radio commentary  and to listen to  it  click here.)
 

When Americans talk about the history of Thanksgiving, most think of the pilgrims at Plymouth in 1621.

But historian and author Jane Hampton Cook has found surprising information about the holiday.
(To find out more go to  The Surprising History of Thanksgiving)

To all you who read this blog I want wish you a very blessed Thanksgiving Day! I do Thank God for you and the time you take to read  my views even if you don't always agree with me. I try to learn from you and I trust you do the same from me.

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"
(Do take time to read  the rest of George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation .)

 

 A Proclamation.

               The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so
               extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

( Read the rest Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation .)

 

 For the first time, yesterday in my city Muslims  joined  local Christians and Jews in their annual Thanksgiving Interfaith Service.
Temple Israel and several Christian congregations have made the service a holiday tradition for about 15 years. Local Muslims had not joined the celebration  ever before.  ( City's Muslims to take part in interfaith event )   

"It was Rabbi (Aryeh) Azriel's initiative," said Syed Mohiuddin, president of the American Institute of Islamic Studies and Culture. "He thought it would add something to the services, and (Islamic Center) members thought it was a very good idea."

First Christian Church, Dundee Presbyterian Church, First United Methodist Church, St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church and Underwood Hills Presbyterian Church are involved.

Mohiuddin's institute has been participating with Azriel and Omaha Episcopalian leaders in the Tri-Faith Initiative, an effort to, among other things, create a joint campus for Muslims, Jews and Christians.
The theme of this year's Thanksgiving service was "One God, One Nation, One World."

 I would be all for this if they had invited  people of the Islam faith as  individuals  not as a group. The truth is the Islam faith is against what our nation  stands for and they are against the Jewish faith and the Christian faith. Their Bible tells them not to have friends who are Jews and Christians. I believe those of us who are followers of Christ should reach out and try our best to be friends with followers of Islam but we shouldn't act like they believe the same as us because they don't. 

I  also like what Dr. Laura says when she hears the words Interfaith,  she thinks faithless.