Thanksgiving is deeply rooted in American tradition, beginning with the European settlers. It was first formalized in 1789, when President George Washington issued a proclamation for “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God.”
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln called on the nation to celebrate the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. The proclamation came at the height of the Civil War and just a few months after the bloody battle of Gettysburg.
Lincoln asked the war-weary nation to thank God for “singular deliverances and blessings,” to remember those who have suffered from the war and pray for the nation’s wounds to be healed for “the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and union.”
President Lyndon Johnson’s Thanksgiving address to the nation on November 28, 1963, came just six days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. “I come before you to ask your help, to ask your strength, to ask your prayers that God may guard this Republic and guide my every labor,” he said.
The nation was deep in mourning, but still Johnson reminded Americans that they had much to be thankful for. “A deed that was meant to tear us apart has bound us together. Our system has passed—you have passed—a great test.”
“You have shown what John F. Kennedy called us to show in his proclamation of this Thanksgiving–that decency of purpose, that steadfastness of resolve, and that strength of will which we inherit from our forefathers.”
President George W. Bush’s 2001 Thanksgiving proclamation came just weeks after the 9/11 attacks. “Let our Thanksgiving be revealed in the compassionate support we render to our fellow citizens who are grieving unimaginable loss; and let us reach out with care to those in need of food, shelter, and words of hope.”
Throughout our history we have been called upon to share the burdens of others, while giving thanks for what we have. Author Melody Beattie said, “Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It makes sense of our past, brings peach to today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
Thanksgiving can inspire that kind of deep reflection about our individual and collective humanity, or it can be a simple exercise. Singer Willie Nelson said, “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.”
University of California psychology professor Robert Emmons said the two key components of practicing gratitude are affirming the good things we have received and acknowledging the role others play in providing our lives with goodness.
Sometimes we forget to do these things. We get out of practice. Life happens, generating a growing list of trials and tribulations that weigh us down. Thanksgiving is the perfect time to restart the powerful engine of gratitude.