A Reason to Give Thanks

11-27-25 Rob Genin- YBL Executive Director

There is something deeply and uniquely Christian about Thanksgiving. The pilgrims to America celebrated a day of thanksgiving to God for their survival and success in establishing a new home to raise their families and worship God. That practice continued sporadically in different states and times until in 1863 Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation to make a National Day of Thanksgiving, on the last Thursday of November:

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.

This is remarkable because he issued this proclamation while the country was embroiled in a brutal civil war. Lincoln did not think that hardship was a reason to delay thanksgiving, but even a greater reason for having such a day. He wrote:

In the midst of a civil war of unequalled 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….Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

I share the larger quote because I think it is important to be thankful for specific things, and to describe them in detail, as Lincoln does here. The detail demonstrates the deep degree to which we are sensible of our blessings and makes the giving of thanks richer and more meaningful as a result.

At the outset, I made the contention thankfulness is uniquely Christian – not simply an American tradition. Long before this country even existed, the apostle Paul wrote:

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

God wants his people to be in communion with Him, and with joyful and thankful hearts at all times. The core reason for this is the conscious and personal relationship we have with God. Many people feel glad when circumstances are good. However, thankfulness in hardship is specifically tied to what we believe about God. Because God is loving, he is willing to help us. Because God has all power and control, he is always able to help us. This knowledge is the key to being thankful in all circumstances, even when our situations are difficult and unsettled.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you can take time to specifically thank God for the particular blessings that He has given you – even those circumstances which are painful or not yet settled. Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Young Business Leaders! 

Washington, D.C.
October 3, 1863

By the President of the United States of America.

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 unequalled 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. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,
Secretary of State