My Thoughts at Thanksgiving (by Commissioner Ed Brimner) 

Dear Fellow Wakulla County Citizen,

{sidebar id=1}This Thanksgiving week, I am most grateful to live in the United States of America.

I am grateful for the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen standing in harm's way around the world.  I am most appreciative of the moms, dads and other family members who raised this fine group of men and women and who daily pray for them and worry about them.  I am thankful to be one of millions who "hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."  Throughout history the burden of keeping the flame of liberty bright has fallen on the shoulders of a few men and women.  Thank God for the few who will take this burden on.  As Daniel Webster correctly stated, 'God grants liberty only to those who love it and are always ready to guard and defend it.'

Thanksgiving is about much more than a feast with family and friends.

Historically, Thanksgiving is about renewing the bond between Americans and God.  I believe all our rights come from God and that we have responsibilities to God as free citizens.  The history of Thanksgiving goes all the way back to the second decade of English-speaking people in North America.  Thanksgiving was the first uniquely American holiday.

Yesterday, President Bush visited the site in Virginia -- Berkeley Plantation -- where the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1619 -- 12 years after the founding of the Virginia colony at Jamestown.  Many, if not most people, do not know the first Thanksgiving was a religious celebration -- an occasion to thank God -- that featured only a modest meal. It wasn't until two years later, in 1621, that Thanksgiving was expanded to include a banquet by the pilgrims in Massachusetts.  I appreciate that addition as I am looking forward to enjoying a meal with my family and friends on Thursday.

During his first year in office, President George Washington issued a proclamation calling for a day of "public thanksgiving and prayer."  In his Thanksgiving proclamation, Washington wrote: "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."

During the heart of the Civil War, in October 1863, President Abraham Lincoln built on President Washington's initiative and created an annual day of thanksgiving.  Like Washington, Lincoln was determined to draw a direct tie between America and the Creator from whom Americans draw their rights.  Lincoln acknowledged that the nation was "in the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity." But he focused instead on the nation's blessings, urging his fellow Americans to remember that "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."

There is no way I could improve on these sentiments.  However, I do wish you and your family the happiest of Thanksgiving and covet your prayers.

I thank you for the honor and privilege of serving you as a County Commissioner.  Thank you and God bless you and your family! 

Ed Brimner
Wakulla County Commissioner, District III
(850) 251-8709  (Cell)
(850) 926-0919  (Office)
(850) 926-0940  (FAX)

This letter originally published on November 20, 2007.

Written by :

mkwestmark

 

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