Thanksgiving and Gratitude
Happy Thanksgiving from the Freemen News-Letter!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Hopefully, today finds you surrounded by loved ones and the smell of delicious food. Last year, I celebrated Thanksgiving by running 5K in Kuwait, so I’m definitely ecstatic to be back home in Utah and celebrating the holiday with my wonderful family.
Thanksgiving, to me, is one of the most important holidays in the American tradition. It serves a dual purpose of connecting us to our deep historical roots and providing a holiday where we focus more on what we have than we do on what we get.
I have ancestors who were on the Mayflower, ancestors who were French Huguenots, and Latter-day Saint ancestors who trekked to Utah from the East and West in the mid-1800s. All of them shared that same pilgrim spirit of desiring to carve out a place in a dark, oppressive world where men could worship freely and live according to the dictates of their conscience. That vision survives, and today, we celebrate our gratitude for the many blessings of freedom, of prosperity, and a place to raise a family in peace.
Today, I echo the prayer offered by George Washington in 1790, hoping that all “who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy…good will;…while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, and there shall be none to make him afraid. May the father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness in our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in his own due time and way everlastingly happy.”
-Justin
Throughout today and this holiday weekend, the Freemen News-Letter will be sharing messages of gratitude and Thanksgiving. We hope you spend the majority of this weekend with your loved ones and take a rest from the toil of day-to-day life. But when you find a quiet moment of reflection, need some intellectual stimulation, or simply have to take a break from the dinner-table conversation, we hope you can enjoy some of our thoughts on the importance of this wonderful holiday.