*NOTE: I created this video to share with the supporters of Ruth Harbor. It is a thanksgiving greeting as well as some historical context for the Thanksgiving Day holiday in America.* ![Thanksgiving - O But God - YouTube](https://youtu.be/4TWmCkPo_JU?si=s_qA2OvvAK0HOAgx) Thanksgiving Day is an important holiday in America's calendar. Unfortunately, as the United States has transitioned to a consumer economy over the last 30 years, the meaning and the purpose for Thanksgiving is all but lost. Walk into any big box store and you will see where our priorities are in 2024. The "Holy High Days" during the Fall have become Halloween, Black Friday, and the December Shopping Season. Older generations are familiar with the story of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. After arriving in North America in 1620, the Pilgrims established Plymouth Colony in what is today Massachusetts. They faced a brutal first winter, and more than half of the Pilgrims died of starvation and disease. The surviving Pilgrims received critical assistance form the Native American tribes in the region including how to farm and gather resources. A year later, in 1621, in celebration of their first harvest, the Pilgrim's hosted a feast to give thanks to God for their abundant harvest and invited members of the Wampanoag tribe to join them. It would be more than two hundred years later, in the dark days of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln would recall this early American celebration and call the nation to a day of thanksgiving. In 1863, Lincoln issued his Thanksgiving Day Proclamation. In it, Lincoln declared, > 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 theater of military conflict; while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. 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.  In 1939, the first hint of commercialization touched Thanksgiving when President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday from its traditional last Thursday in November to the Fourth Thursday. His reasoning was to extend the Christmas shopping season by an additional week. This led to a lot of controversy and conflict as critics accused Roosevelt of commercializing the holiday. Some states defied Roosevelt and kept the holiday on the last Thursday while others celebrated two Thanksgivings! In December 1941, after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war, Congress moved to formally establish the Thanksgiving holiday as the fourth Thursday in November, making it the national holiday that it is today. In many ways, it is against our nature to be grateful for the blessings our Lord has provided for us. Thanksgiving is a day set aside specifically to remind us to be grateful as individuals, families, and as a nation. At Ruth Harbor, we look for "the fingerprints of God" in both our ministry and the women and children we serve. These "O But God" moments remind us that God is at work in both big and small ways. Life transformation does not happen overnight. It is a slow, intentional process filled with curves and changes. It is a process Eugene Peterson describes as "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction." We are thankful for each woman God sends to us and for the work He is doing in them. We are also thankful for the family of believers who join with us through their prayers, volunteer service, and financial support. Take a moment and give thanks. The old hymn reminds us to "count our blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done." Happy Thanksgiving! --- ### How Did I Create This Video? - I wrote the script for the video. - I recorded the voice narration using [ElevenLabs.io](https://elevenlabs.io/). The main voice is "Bill." - The voice of Abraham Lincoln was created using [Artlist.io's](https://artlist.io) "Rural" voice. It was slowed down a bit to give it a more historic feel - The stock video clips are from Artlist.io. - The music track is from Artlist.io. - The historic photos are mostly from Wikimedia. - The video was edited using Final Cut Pro.