%PDF-1.7 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Outlines 2 0 R /Pages 3 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Outlines /Count 0 >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Kids [6 0 R 19 0 R ] /Count 2 /Resources << /ProcSet 4 0 R /Font << /F1 8 0 R /F2 9 0 R /F3 10 0 R /F4 11 0 R /F5 12 0 R /F6 14 0 R >> /XObject << /I1 15 0 R /I2 16 0 R /I3 23 0 R /I4 24 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 17 0 R /GS2 18 0 R /GS3 21 0 R /GS4 22 0 R >> >> /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] >> endobj 4 0 obj [/PDF /Text /ImageC ] endobj 5 0 obj << /Producer (dompdf 1.0.2 + CPDF) /CreationDate (D:20241227185005+00'00') /ModDate (D:20241227185005+00'00') >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 7 0 R >> endobj 7 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 2014 >> stream xXMW1bM29I$brv]:rb,Cay=rQSjk yq1]5 wRVQV顦79%(zëwzhA ?/ ʣ$NW$ eu<qs}LH1XYp|߿]$QqI\QG?0#]YI6%۲ DtH?Q$rJ'ѣ]Wt(Gm {5Fi>/9|qeM+*;s#uRYn|"kky7jra9t0Y`K G2;ʢ@ͻ2!0aYh!F~75w13&˹>?{jb>TZw071&u @L,.׫Q+Z Ўl`EqC )QxiAΛ JETd!Ez{eXw> é ޲ K#j^ЯT3 Yz2ڻzfW5 \0DaSo1sK\BYhvbَp~rp{ ZNZB|n8|G1칡/][wrسطCݩzpV!KMsLQʲ| sĜNe,t3;zj׏J+]=BC<~=:')!P@Lxd>咒zRND?^g2'9?Hx 3Y',e'aԣ7-Ìp#-$8'n:@-`ƌhSdqT'qۿB`ދ9A9n_JJ< %`DݬK~t>cǧ/g;𛑢 Kr^@_5 endstream endobj 8 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F1 /BaseFont /Helvetica /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F2 /BaseFont /Times-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F3 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 11 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F4 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 12 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F5 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Oblique /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 13 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 14 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F6 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 15 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 550 /Height 140 /Filter /FlateDecode /DecodeParms << /Predictor 15 /Colors 1 /Columns 550 /BitsPerComponent 8>> /ColorSpace /DeviceGray /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 5329>> stream xqDǯ뺒$ILfff&I335Lf2\3I2L&_3$3I$d+$\W=9y9lLss99P`0 `0 `0 `0 !U_:~u = F~sZŻدns⃪Qg¢G(F[-s͓^ DZ>d>3Dr#\OΉ, ZFwjux<;4Ƀxز#_v?nO<|{7c(b{Oū}w[N e~Hs䎷wwOn<1B.k+%U=eԘ -mCj)t:}c'ϓ*n"-ovkZ?R"V%wʶ7s]eX&eǕq` 1-2e JYHCFOUam 7:(Ԙt_@ހN t{B~ :V@}o#7!z^&zFL:ʤn X<- %"bNWqF c` M'4?cH-V`ǵAF>=#Ěm75dB I&7E5<>-͏їFǿl3M6x]Y&)2 FoΌ N.<t i4wL\^=_|Fo؏IȄ ik$ɄL?{?|tmCޮ=~T&iTevϷ'奔s?EꋄLPY͹箵?@L:Aˤ3y_:9AtA*0qVe- e6g)%a}.qKcI V/xʤzM|\ HSql0;*%+Mذ-闛obebu2iU&lLbtIcxb5^B#8 ޮaʻ _ w>j+L:$"&O;bZ K1 jmU玫ݢ=S/J<WO2'_yUPvp=`"aL5 Nl7"rlQT޼==-I[Se* F'(\`󴯉'{:נnVZ TG6*r$Tyx^LJū.C<3` %ANrxUo"˄ 0&$tO F&bIcW3GG͈ y!{m,LkCI d,(2"@ dR%F1thUL8Rݒ^+v9^?sʯYעDl~Qd" N2sc|ov}=F,3K#vxIvG^,[OM&wI[#,Jޙ\ض;L^fv[LbyYvM#/EI#/Zס$(ڼ ," &LK/IF i-Zx彰픢]MKeR n(PhV'LҸ\f$w/ e]"mɷWO߻˱ KerSPe (ӼGMȈ}X?ʍto7ZKl+81_Y&ǡd uʤ1Vw!sQ"/$zNkw(t)2BWQW"˄OXLp:e‡# וzn2F}qlc5ؾ:WH xLz LP:d# Q>(MRېd2Qt$o~R$YR5,-nޜLr_βehd" 2k1lvO X= eC p+[R=jU!֖}_DޟY2 (*wkZQ>Fl̲soR#^u3hhyTԲt.LtD8sk4z4Rbl@zp4hy0Tn\=.fnő Y/:TC9<@fSI$:QR/bq7DfR/ֻn)Vqd"䳽˄GL;ϝRG顼n&%Sv eFv,L"t}I&N> D73]$e)( ;]XhL`kSzJlcC$<)깍h}dr,1ܝRM뭍eMa $?e3f8΍҈&P(x+JU5{I 3 M- ;7|#G9 !\œ&=xp2,L{-`?OW":4uܚEadv ~9q.VdV%UT@73$@W¯B!ݒaVLH:!opr;gAɀiήpfߙR E/IDO*Luf0}{7mfyDxT.g)w5RvHx#Z]&M$ gZUTt+lZqZ_;a&JaG,-JLJDFIcV|:I3nB&;N0Lna=Y_Gl,p5,,kc EKgd;2vt7selT9˸sX޲.6r<1!| L0lTMS1?Xsf cq )KSgBB&׭x. v c@^Yk΀v],E[ɾ QhYyXXC2)g/J@su1ScL, ?C[{V2i͛!סӠ&> 6lu>4Ƕʤ|=12鱧l{^:a/Y%~].26G: p^CZ V&Vedҟ?RrX7d#I]ՕuL1 ?_ /12IEh ̴b<ӯ^e _ϝ䰻^]vy> /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 873>> stream x1j08-K/)],) &gi+:U̲\"9H!@"9H!@"9H!@eY.Z[p_E{QHKV[/`j%ʒcP,SX4W{7urd5ɱPr:-ֆʇX$$zfZpClbw7z{[]qGlwlGlZiM,ߺ7x}w` L9=3zpWL9 j)ۓB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$e]k` B$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$/؋ endstream endobj 17 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.3 >> endobj 18 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 0.3 >> endobj 19 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 20 0 R >> endobj 20 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1222 >> stream xVM6ﯘc j%YGo&HA P@KD"U&?oH̵X%ͼfxWd5-[{|aEkKav4O.T5vLAf[^Ia)7z'53lf ?C #S/Zu&̣g4^) *Uu,/R|'E+ UE5@v*M涓>>z'rȞm\YsF.m:Te:nКZ@]V'oC@n6uPPJG,Rt3^ɫĔlXx9fy1II(bX0R@a④xY.\X,jH),uUEJ'3`Ca,ܙh g֝=iP; uwJjmF^#b8Ū<}U#:  =+8[0YsTK&R:+B^ Bޚ ¸tmن0Csa0M)@cz|ܯR0a:Ӄl -d@(" =V~:R dQ ?JZl0V1S6Ôo1ｄshz{aT9j:Tx̩EV):9x"d; 0"QZw)=>)*Eԓ޳/La⠋G|3xҦ*;0Po?p8ʞi~.xx64}:#)v)} CKE/;c0F {!Y!'`0I᯻b&;ߖ*UW3㛊~6wo¶zuLOBFvz']UUCğ tfkDaq9!|}Xl_%|,]It endstream endobj 21 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 1 >> endobj 22 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 1 >> endobj 23 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 550 /Height 140 /Filter /FlateDecode /DecodeParms << /Predictor 15 /Colors 1 /Columns 550 /BitsPerComponent 8>> /ColorSpace /DeviceGray /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 5329>> stream xqDǯ뺒$ILfff&I335Lf2\3I2L&_3$3I$d+$\W=9y9lLss99P`0 `0 `0 `0 !U_:~u = F~sZŻدns⃪Qg¢G(F[-s͓^ DZ>d>3Dr#\OΉ, ZFwjux<;4Ƀxز#_v?nO<|{7c(b{Oū}w[N e~Hs䎷wwOn<1B.k+%U=eԘ -mCj)t:}c'ϓ*n"-ovkZ?R"V%wʶ7s]eX&eǕq` 1-2e JYHCFOUam 7:(Ԙt_@ހN t{B~ :V@}o#7!z^&zFL:ʤn X<- %"bNWqF c` M'4?cH-V`ǵAF>=#Ěm75dB I&7E5<>-͏їFǿl3M6x]Y&)2 FoΌ N.<t i4wL\^=_|Fo؏IȄ ik$ɄL?{?|tmCޮ=~T&iTevϷ'奔s?EꋄLPY͹箵?@L:Aˤ3y_:9AtA*0qVe- e6g)%a}.qKcI V/xʤzM|\ HSql0;*%+Mذ-闛obebu2iU&lLbtIcxb5^B#8 ޮaʻ _ w>j+L:$"&O;bZ K1 jmU玫ݢ=S/J<WO2'_yUPvp=`"aL5 Nl7"rlQT޼==-I[Se* F'(\`󴯉'{:נnVZ TG6*r$Tyx^LJū.C<3` %ANrxUo"˄ 0&$tO F&bIcW3GG͈ y!{m,LkCI d,(2"@ dR%F1thUL8Rݒ^+v9^?sʯYעDl~Qd" N2sc|ov}=F,3K#vxIvG^,[OM&wI[#,Jޙ\ض;L^fv[LbyYvM#/EI#/Zס$(ڼ ," &LK/IF i-Zx彰픢]MKeR n(PhV'LҸ\f$w/ e]"mɷWO߻˱ KerSPe (ӼGMȈ}X?ʍto7ZKl+81_Y&ǡd uʤ1Vw!sQ"/$zNkw(t)2BWQW"˄OXLp:e‡# וzn2F}qlc5ؾ:WH xLz LP:d# Q>(MRېd2Qt$o~R$YR5,-nޜLr_βehd" 2k1lvO X= eC p+[R=jU!֖}_DޟY2 (*wkZQ>Fl̲soR#^u3hhyTԲt.LtD8sk4z4Rbl@zp4hy0Tn\=.fnő Y/:TC9<@fSI$:QR/bq7DfR/ֻn)Vqd"䳽˄GL;ϝRG顼n&%Sv eFv,L"t}I&N> D73]$e)( ;]XhL`kSzJlcC$<)깍h}dr,1ܝRM뭍eMa $?e3f8΍҈&P(x+JU5{I 3 M- ;7|#G9 !\œ&=xp2,L{-`?OW":4uܚEadv ~9q.VdV%UT@73$@W¯B!ݒaVLH:!opr;gAɀiήpfߙR E/IDO*Luf0}{7mfyDxT.g)w5RvHx#Z]&M$ gZUTt+lZqZ_;a&JaG,-JLJDFIcV|:I3nB&;N0Lna=Y_Gl,p5,,kc EKgd;2vt7selT9˸sX޲.6r<1!| L0lTMS1?Xsf cq )KSgBB&׭x. v c@^Yk΀v],E[ɾ QhYyXXC2)g/J@su1ScL, ?C[{V2i͛!סӠ&> 6lu>4Ƕʤ|=12鱧l{^:a/Y%~].26G: p^CZ V&Vedҟ?RrX7d#I]ՕuL1 ?_ /12IEh ̴b<ӯ^e _ϝ䰻^]vy> /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 873>> stream x1j08-K/)],) &gi+:U̲\"9H!@"9H!@"9H!@eY.Z[p_E{QHKV[/`j%ʒcP,SX4W{7urd5ɱPr:-ֆʇX$$zfZpClbw7z{[]qGlwlGlZiM,ߺ7x}w` L9=3zpWL9 j)ۓB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$e]k` B$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$/؋ endstream endobj xref 0 25 0000000000 65535 f 0000000009 00000 n 0000000074 00000 n 0000000120 00000 n 0000000461 00000 n 0000000498 00000 n 0000000647 00000 n 0000000750 00000 n 0000002837 00000 n 0000002944 00000 n 0000003052 00000 n 0000003162 00000 n 0000003275 00000 n 0000003391 00000 n 0000003420 00000 n 0000003530 00000 n 0000009105 00000 n 0000010236 00000 n 0000010295 00000 n 0000010354 00000 n 0000010459 00000 n 0000011755 00000 n 0000011812 00000 n 0000011869 00000 n 0000017444 00000 n trailer << /Size 25 /Root 1 0 R /Info 5 0 R /ID[<019382189a09c74802f683dc6f6a858b><019382189a09c74802f683dc6f6a858b>] >> startxref 18575 %%EOF FOCUS - Thanksgiving | Caring Magazine

Vol. #28

Grace Uncovered

Read Issue

Latest Impact StoriesView All

Popular Topics

PopularView All

FOCUS – Thanksgiving

November 9, 2004
3 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
Listen to this article

by Ted Horwood, Captain – 

Thanksgiving is a wonderful expression of Americanism. I realize that national days for expressing gratitude are not unique to America; they occur throughout the world and have occurred throughout history. They also take differing expressions around the world. Probably the strangest national day of thanks that I ever experienced was when the one President declared a national holiday for the arrival of Mohamar Kadaffi, leader of Libya. But an American Thanksgiving seems to convey that which is characteristic of this nation.
For many it is the purest of national holidays because it has somehow not been overly tainted by commercialism, cheesy music or bank-busting expectations. Thanksgiving is a subtler, kinder holiday. Although secular, it maintains a distinguished air seasoned with love and friendship and transcending religiosity. We take the opportunity to bring family and friends together to share a meal, reflect on the year and have fellowship. It is brief respite prior to the frenzy of Christmas and all the obligations thereof.
Essentially the story, which every American child learns, goes something like this. In 1620, one hundred and two people in search of religious freedom braved the perilous North Atlantic crossing. Landing in November, they faced the severity of winter along the eastern seaboard. Fifty-five people perished before the spring thaw. But under the leadership of Governor Bradford, the “Pilgrims” were able to plant and reap a harvest of bounty that could only be attributed to the blessing of God. So, a feast of Thanks was prepared, and for three days the small community of Plymouth shared their blessings. But, community-wide commemorations of thanksgiving did not end with that small New England town.

On November 26, 1789, George Washington said, “Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday, the twenty-sixth of November next, to be devoted to the service of that great and glorious Being, for the kind care and protection of the people of this country.” He proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to honor the adoption of the Constitution. And President James Madison declared Thanksgiving Day in 1815 to celebrate the end of the War of 1812.

But in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving an official national holiday. He said, “I . . .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.”

An acknowledgment of God, and His blessing over our nation is an American characteristic and traditionally a part of a Thanksgiving meal. We are a people of faith.

It is not uncommon for an informal assessment of the year’s ups and downs to be included in the discussions around the table. This year has been difficult for many in our corps and institutions. Leaders are having difficulty with transitions. Budgets are shrinking, yet needs are growing. Focusing on the essence of ministry among the peripheral responsibilities can be frustrating. But we are optimistic and hopeful people. We see wonderful potential in those to whom we minister, and the organization with which we serve. We recognize the enormous bounty we have. Few of us will ever voluntarily go to bed hungry, and certainly not on Thanksgiving.
And we are a caring people. The Salvation Army once again tops the chart of non-profit recipients of philanthropic giving. Americans give more globally and locally than any other nation. I think that is because we really love people. We may not call it love, but our actions generally point to genuine concern and a desire to help. Mother Teresa reminds us that “people are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway.”

Faith, hope and love. These are pretty good characteristics of a nation, and Thanksgiving is a wonderful day to recognize them. I pray that your day will filled with rich traditions.

“This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice, and be glad in it.”

Download this page as a PDF

You May Also Like