Tag Archives: thanksgiving

Thanksgiving – Thu – 22-11-24

Daily Spark

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:00 — 3.7MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

Happy Thanksgiving! May you and yours celebrate all the goodness of God today.

The Thanksgiving holiday originated in the United States. But this holiday is observed in other countries as well. The second Monday of October is celebrated in Canada. The observance may have begun with French settlers. However, migrants from New England probably also shared many of the American traditions, such as eating turkey.

Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia, celebrates Thanksgiving on the last Wednesday of November. The observance was brought to the island by American whaling ships.

Brazil established an August holiday in 1949. An ambassador observed celebrations at a cathedral in Washington. Brazil’s official holiday was later moved to the fourth Thursday of November.

Liberia celebrates the holiday on the first Thursday of November. It was brought to the nation by freed slaves from the United States.

The Philippines observes Thanksgiving as a cultural rather than national holiday. The observance started when the Philippines were a colony of the United States. *

A few other nations have an observance as well. Note that many of the observances were started by or influenced by a connection with the United States. I don’t say that to prompt national pride. I think the attitude of thankfulness is contagious. In the midst of a nation fussing over power and politics, we must be thankful. God has blessed us and our country. May our thankfulness be contagious.

*”Thanksgiving,” Wikipedia, last updated October 20, 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving

How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/

Visit Elmer Fuller’s author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/

Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

Thanksgiving – Sun – 22-11-20

Daily Spark,

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:00 — 3.7MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

This week many of us will gather with family and friends to celebrate the traditional Thanksgiving holiday. I remember celebrating it as a child at my grandparents’ house in eastern Kansas. My great aunties drove up from Oklahoma. We enjoyed a fine meal followed by card games of pitch or pinochle.

As an adult, I remember driving hours to cross several states to reach my in-laws’ farm. Other family members joined us, cramming the house full. We consumed a huge spread of turkey, potatoes, noodles, rolls and, of course, pumpkin pie. I usually helped wash dishes with my brother-in-law. We’re having Thanksgiving at our house this year. Hopefully we’ll also cram the house full of family to celebrate the day. I might even get a bit of pecan pie to go with the pumpkin.

Thanksgiving is a great time to celebrate God’s blessing with family. Did you know that every Sunday a different Thanksgiving meal is held in many churches? That’s right, every Sunday. 1 Corinthians 10:16 says, “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?” (NIV)

The Lord’s Supper is a spiritual meal with your spiritual family. It is a time to celebrate what Jesus accomplished through his death. He made it possible for us to be the children of God. May you celebrate the cup of thanksgiving with Jesus today.

How to leave a review: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/rate-and-review/

Visit Elmer Fuller’s author website at: https://www.elmerfuller.com/

Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.

Give Thanks – Thu – 21-11-25

Daily Spark

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:00 — 3.7MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

How can we celebrate Thanksgiving in a country divided by masks, mandates, critical race theory and identity politics? Is it even possible?

Did you know that Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national observance in the midst of the Civil War? Listen to some of Lincoln’s words. May they inspire you on this Thanksgiving day!

“The year that is drawing toward 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 can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

. . .

I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, . . . to set apart and observe . . . 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, . . . 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.”*

*Derrick Wilburn, “The True Origins of Our Thanksgiving Holiday,” The Federalist Papers, November 23, 2017, https://thefederalistpapers.org/history/true-origins-thanksgiving-holiday.

Please provide feedback and suggestions at: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/feedback/

Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.