I love Thanksgiving. It’s the best American holiday — besting July 4, if only because the celebrations don’t scare the dog. Usually. Thanksgiving is universal. No matter the religion or creed, all people can express gratitude for their blessings. It leads to happiness and well-being. Americans ought to be grateful to have Thanksgiving.

George Washington declared that Americans should celebrate a day of thanksgiving, but it was Abraham Lincoln who enshrined the day 75 years later. Here is what President Lincoln said:

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

America continues to have “lamentable strife,” and Americans do suffer. This year, more than many, Americans are hungry and going without. Food banks are burdened. Pray for them and give. Also, look after the less fortunate and pray for the sorrowful.

Remember, too, that the holiday season, beginning now, is stressful for many — especially the alcoholics and addicts among us. Life is stressful enough, but a dysfunctional family and the gatherings that happen can provoke a special kind of pain. (READ MORE from Melissa Mackenzie: On Becoming Catholic)

Still, there is much to be grateful for, and it’s good to pause, as a nation, united, and take stock of the nearly obscene abundance with which we’ve been blessed. The world is torn with wars and rumors of wars. There is deep unrest and unease. And yet, here in America, if we have an affliction, it’s one of apathy. We’ve had so much for so long that we forget what it is to know systemic want and deprivation. God help our indifference. It’s a cruel lesson to learn the hard way when one forgets to thank his Maker for what he has.

I’m grateful for Thanksgiving. To pause and remember where good things come from and humbly thank God is as old as the American founding. It is a proud heritage. Protect this tradition with your family. It’s one of the best legacies of being American.