Thanksgiving

Edward Winslow

In this blog, God Still Winks, I seek to discover common ground between Muslims and Christians.  The blog will not ask Christians to convert to Islam, and it will not ask Muslims to convert to Christianity.  I enjoy meeting people who take their faith in God seriously–which includes both Christians and Muslims.  On this Thanksgiving day, I give thanks for the godly Muslims and Christians who are a part of my life.

The Thanksgiving holiday is and always has been a day set aside to give thanks to God for His many blessings–certainly a holiday that Muslims and Christians can wholeheartedly observe.  Just as certainly, we who take our faith in God seriously find numerous reasons to give thanks to God throughout the year.

How did Thanksgiving become a holiday in the United States?  According to an article in Wikipedia, “Thanksgiving has been celebrated nationally on and off since 1789, with a proclamation by George Washington after a request by Congress.  In the middle of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, prompted by a series of editorials written by Sarah Josepha Hale, proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated on the 26th, the final Thursday of November 1863.”  President Lincoln described the holiday as a day for, "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens."

However the first Thanksgiving celebration occurred in October 1621–one year after the arrival of the Pilgrims from England. The Pilgrims were God-fearing people who came to the New World to escape religious persecution. Of the 102 Pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower (the ship in which they traveled), almost half died.  Most who died were women and children.  Edward Winslow, a leader among the Pilgrims, reported that 53 PIlgrims and 90 Native Americans were in attendance at this first Thanksgiving celebration.  The Pilgrims’ first year in the New World was extremely severe with much hardship, loss of life, and sorrow; and yet they rejoiced to set aside this day in 1621 to give thanks to Almighty God.  

The Holy Quran encourages believers to give thanks, “O you who have believed, eat from the good things which We have provided for you and be grateful to Allah if it is indeed Him that you worship.” Surah 2:172

The Holy Bible instructs us in the New Testament, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

The Holy Bible also gives us the 100th Psalm.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
    Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
 Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

This psalm invites us to come before God with joyful songs, so I conclude with the words of a sacred song, entitled, Count Your Blessings,

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Now that you have read the words, click here to listen to the song.

As-salāmu ʿalaykum - Peace be upon you.

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