St Paul left good advice for science bloggers when he advised, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” But he left an even better motto for health bloggers: “Rejoice always; in everything give thanks.”
So let us recall all that is good, hold fast to it, rejoice in it, and give thanks for it. May your Thanksgiving Day be blessed!
Here is Mary Chapin Carpenter:
Johnny Cash:
And for history buffs, City upon a Hill (John Winthrop, 1630):
Now the onely way to avoyde this shipwracke and to provide for our posterity is to followe the Counsell of Micah, to doe Justly, to love mercy, to walke humbly with our God, wee must be knitt together in this worke as one man, wee must entertaine each other in brotherly Affeccion …
[F]or wee must Consider that wee shall be as a Citty upon a Hill, the eies of all people are uppon us; soe that if wee shall deale falsely with our god in this worke wee have undertaken and soe cause him to withdrawe his present help from us, wee shall be made a story and a byword through the world … And to shutt upp this discourse with that exhortacion of Moses that faithfull servant of the Lord in his last farewell to Israell: Beloved there is now sett before us life, and good, deathe and evill in that wee are Commaunded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another to walke in his wayes and to keepe his Commaundements and his Ordinance, and his lawes, and the Articles of our Covenant with him that wee may live and be multiplyed, and that the Lord our God may blesse us in the land whether wee goe to possesse it: But if our heartes shall turne away soe that wee will not obey, but shall be seduced and worshipp other Gods our pleasures, and proffitts, and serve them, it is propounded unto us this day, wee shall surely perishe out of the good Land whether wee passe over this vast Sea to possesse it;
Therefore lett us choose life,
that wee, and our Seede,
may live; by obeyeing his
voyce, and cleaveing to him,
for hee is our life, and
our prosperity.
via this link:
Beautiful! Thanks for all your great work Paul and Sou-Ching! A blessed Thanksgving to you and yours!
I’m not a citizen of USA and Thanksgiving is not a familiar concept for me. I would like to know who you are thanking?
Yossi, great question. As an American, I can tell you that Americans are confused as to who they are supposed to be thanking on Thanksgiving. We are taught in public schools that Thanksgiving is in memory of the pilgrims who invited the native americans to their dinner table in order to thank them for helping them survive in a new land. However, if you read Abraham Lincolns Thanksgiving Proclamation, it’s clear that the holiday was established in order to thank “Almighty God”(Abraham Lincolns words) for the many blessings that our forefathers believed they were imparted with.
Check out Abraham Lincolns Thanksgiving Day Proclamation for yourself, it’s beautifully written. It’s a tradition of my family to read it during Thanksgiving dinner.
http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/thanks.htm
Jonathan
Thanks, Jonathan, great answer.
Yossi, here’s a bit more, regarding the 1789 declaration of Thanksgiving Day by George Washington and the first Congress under the new constitution:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324556304578121412538523392.html
The inaugural session of the first Congress was about to recess when Rep. Elias Boudinot of New Jersey rose to introduce a resolution. He asked the House to create a joint committee with the Senate to “wait upon the President of the United States, to request that he would 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 signal favors of Almighty God.”
The congressman made special reference to the Constitution, which had been ratified by the requisite two-thirds of the states in 1788. A day of public thanksgiving, he believed, would allow Americans to express gratitude to God for the “opportunity peaceably to establish a Constitution of government for their safety and happiness.”…
Connecticut’s Roger Sherman praised Boudinot’s resolution as “a laudable one in itself.” It also was “warranted by a number of precedents” in the Bible, he said, “for instance the solemn thanksgivings and rejoicings which took place in the time of Solomon, after the building of the temple.”
In the end, the Thanksgiving resolution passed—the precise vote is not recorded—and the House appointed a committee. The resolution moved to the Senate, which passed it and added its own members to the committee.
The committee took the resolution to the president, and on Oct. 3 George Washington issued his now-famous Thanksgiving Proclamation. In it, he designated Thursday, Nov. 26, 1789 as “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer.” He asked Americans to render their “sincere and humble thanks” to God for “his kind care and protection of the People of this Country.”
It was his first presidential proclamation, and it was well heeded. According to the “Papers of George Washington,” compiled by the University of Virginia, Thanksgiving Day was “widely celebrated throughout the nation.” Newspapers around the country published the proclamation and announced plans for public functions in honor of the day. Religious services were held, and churches solicited donations for the poor. Washington himself sent $25 to a pastor in New York City, requesting that the funds be “applied towards relieving the poor of the Presbyterian Churches,” in the words of his secretary….
Washington was keenly aware of his role as a model for future presidents. He once remarked that “There is scarcely any part of my conduct which may not be hereafter drawn into precedent.” That included his Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789, which set the standard for Thanksgiving Proclamations by future presidents, a list that included James Madison, Abraham Lincoln, and then every president up to the present day.
Love the post, thank you!!
Great post Paul. I hope you and Sou-Ching had a great Thanksgiving. With your regained vibrant health and fulfilling work, I’m sure you had much to be thankful for.
Jonathan
Happy Thanksgiving too! Thank you both, Paul and Shou-Ching, for all you do! Really appreciate your work and your messages. Wishing you the best and much continued success. And really looking forward to reading the new book soon – just a couple of weeks!!!