THIS (PAST 2) WEEK(S) IN PICTURES

Thanksgiving - What I'm Most Thankful For This Year?

2018 has been a pretty healthy and happy year in PeroVille...No car accidents, no illnesses, no economic issues, no terribly tragic incidences - outside of the death of my grandmother, who lived a terrific, long life, and whose death was somewhat expected.

So, for 2018 the thing I'm most thankful for is:  My employer giving me the opportunity to take over the management of their business...I've been with this company for over 24 years, waited my turn, and have always wanted this position.  I will do everything I can to do well by them - and by those who work for me.

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On a different note, please keep our service men and women in mind...Especially those serving Thanksgiving holiday away from their loved ones.

Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation (1863 - During the Civil War)

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 unequaled 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 Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward, Secretary of State

George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

**NOTE: Amazingly, shortly after the Thanksgiving Proclamation was written  it was lost for 130 years. The original document was written in long hand by William Jackson, secretary to the President, and was then signed by George Washington. It was probably misplaced or mixed in with some private papers when the U.S. capitol moved from New York to Washington, D.C. The original manuscript was not placed in the National Archives until 1921 when Dr. J. C. Fitzpatrick, assistant chief of the manuscripts division of the Library of Congress, found the proclamation at an auction sale being held at an art gallery in New York. Dr Fitzpatrick purchased the document for $300.00 for the Library of Congress, in which it now resides. It was the first official presidential proclamation issued in the United States.

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to 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 and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

President George Washington

No People Have Ever Had More To Be Thankful For

Thanksgiving is the first 'American' holiday, and in my opinion our greatest because no other people in the history of the world have had as much to be thankful for...It would do us all well to remember and honor this fact.

Although I'm not religious, it should also be noted this holiday is and has always been a religious holiday...Those who know its history should notice the similarity between Thanksgiving and at least a few Old Testament stories. All spelling below is in it's original form.

"America has much for which to be thankful. The unequaled freedom enjoyed by our citizens has provided a harvest of plenty to this Nation throughout its history. In keeping with America's heritage, one day each year is set aside for giving thanks to God for all of His blessings. As we celebrate Thanksgiving, we should reflect on the full meaning of this day as we enjoy the fellowship that is so much a part of the holiday festivities. Searching our hearts, we should ask what we can do as individuals to demonstrate our gratitude to God for all He has done. Such reflection can only add to the significance of this precious day of remembrance. Let us recommit ourselves to that devotion to God and family that has played such an important role in making this a great Nation, and which will be needed as a source of strength if we are to remain a great people." - Ronald Reagan

Account of the First Harvest Feast and Thanksgiving
By: Mark Alexander
Original & Complete Article @ The Patriot's Post

Some historians note that the first thanksgiving was recorded on December 4, 1619, when 38 English settlers arrived at Berkeley Hundred on the north bank of the James River about 20 miles upstream from Jamestown, the first permanent Colony of Virginia settlement established on May 14, 1607.

The charter for the settlers at Berkeley Hundred required "We ordaine that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantacon in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually keept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God."

To that end, Captain John Woodleaf led that service.

However, the first harvest feast and thanksgiving was at Plymouth Colony in 1621, and it is that iconic event that is now considered, the First Thanksgiving.

President Ronald Reagan often cited the Pilgrims who celebrated the First Thanksgiving as our forebears who charted the path of American freedom. He made frequent reference to John Winthrop's "shining city upon a hill."

As Reagan explained, "The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we'd call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free."

Who were these "freedom men," and how did they eventually blaze the path of true liberty?

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THESE "FREEDOM MEN"

THIS WEEK IN PICTURES

PRAGER UNIVERSITY: The Amazing Life of Ulysses S. Grant

"Give us five-minutes and we’ll give you a semester." - Dennis Prager

This semester of Prager University is presented by:  Garry Adelman

"In him, the negro found a protector, the Indian a friend, a vanquished foe a brother, an imperiled nation a savior." – Frederick Douglas

"In the first year of the (civil) war, it looked as if the South would win...Where would President Lincoln find a battlefield general who could do for the Union what Robert E. Lee was doing for the Confederacy - lead it to victory?  The man he found, the man who saved the union, was Ulysses S. Grant...His leadership skills were immediately obvious...He was cool under fire.  Daring but rarely reckless.  Even more important, the men under his command trusted him...There was nothing flashy about Grant's generalship.  All he did was win." – G.A.

PRAGER UNIVERSITY COURSE CATALOG

Veteran's Day: How Do We Expect Our Kids To Know...

...If We Don't Teach Them?

"I...acknowledge what I have come to feel about those who sacrifice some, or all, of their young lives to defend the rest of us.  They are our ordinary citizens who have forced themselves to extraordinary service.  They do not answer the call to arms lightly, but weigh it against the safety and comforts of life at home.  Yet they do answer.  They answer because when the call does come, and they then look into their hearts, they see the delicate flame of freedom begin to flicker." - Jim Proser

"In war, there are no unwounded soldiers." - Jose Narosky

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - George Orwell

"Their story is known to all of you.  It is the story of the American man-at-arms.  My estimate of him was formed on the battlefield many, many years ago, and has never changed.  I regarded him then as I regard him now - as one of the world's noblest figures, not only as one of the finest military characters, but also as one of the most stainless.  His name and fame are the birthright of every American citizen.  In his youth and strength, his love and loyalty, he gave all that mortality can give.  He needs no eulogy from me or from any other man.  He has written his own history and written it in red on his enemy's breast.  But when I think of his patience under adversity, of his courage under fire, and of his modest victory, I am filled with an emotion of admiration I cannot put into words.  He belongs to history as furnishing one of the greatest examples of successful patriotism.  He belongs to posterity as the instructor of future generations in the principles of liberty and freedom.  He belongs to the present, to us, by his virtues and by his achievements." - General Douglas MacArthur

"This will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave." - Elmer Davis

"But the freedom that they fought for, and the country grand they wrought for, Is their monument to-day, and for aye." - Thomas Dunn English

Take A Moment To Thank A Veteran

When you see someone in a uniform,
Someone who serves us all,
Doing military duty,
Answering their country’s call,

Take a moment to thank them
For protecting what you hold dear;
Tell them you are proud of them;
Make it very clear.
Just tap them on the shoulder,
Give a smile, and say,
"Thanks for what you’re doing
To keep us safe in the USA!"
By Joanna Fuchs

Every day should be Veteran's Day in our heart, but at the very least we should take a few moments on November 11th to make note of those who have protected the freedoms we enjoy as Americans.  We need not do this because they are heroes - because they do not see themselves as such - we need to do this to acknowledge the sacrifices they have made for each of us...And please, don't forget those who are currently serving - nor those waiting for them at home.