Mailbag:

For many countless Americans, celebrating Thanksgiving this year may be difficult in the wake of such challenging times. It seems as though certainty has given way to uncertainty and every security is being threatened.

Yet one certainty and security remains unshaken: God’s word.

As hard as the times may be for some, times were harder for the early pilgrims celebrating their first “Thanksgiving” in 1621.

Half the settlers died from starvation the year before because of a harsh winter.

The surviving colonists then learned from the native Wampanoags how to hunt and harvest native foods. Beyond their will to survive, these early American settlers had a heart of thankfulness and servitude to God.

While many Puritan colonists celebrated days of fasting, prayer and feasts, the governing Continental Congress in 1777 declared that within the 13 colonies a day should be set aside by each colony to celebrate a day of Thanksgiving.

And in 1782 John Hanson from New Hampshire wrote a Thanksgiving proclamation to Congress on Nov. 28, 1782, recommending the observance of this day to abstain from all labor as a day of solemn thanksgiving to God for all his mercies.

When the Civil War threatened to divide the nation, Sarah Hale launched a relentless lone letter writing campaign to politicians and in 1863 President Abraham Lincoln was encouraged by Hale’s letters, and hoping to unify the country signed a declaration that the last Thursday in November would be nationally celebrated as Thanksgiving Day.

In today’s modern world the spirit of thankfulness and the giving of thanks to God for all his mercies and provisions has been drowned out by the lure of the latest sports game, parade, shopping sale or other self-serving pleasure.

I would hope to encourage you to look back to America’s rich history and learn to be one who gives thanks to God and celebrates all that God has given you despite your conditions or hardships, for God’s word and promises never change, and those who trust in his word will be blessed.

Russ Niewiarowski

Newport Beach