REV. DANIEL ROHAN May we thank God, the source of our blessings

On Oct. 3, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving.
But earlier he had proclaimed April 30, 1863, as a similar national day of humiliation, fasting and prayer. That proclamation reads:
"... whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to owe their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.
"And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.
"It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness."
God is our source
As I dug through my files, I came across a copy of the proclamation, but the document wasn't what caught my attention. Instead, I was struck by President Lincoln's thoughts that gave rise to the need for such a holiday.
If only all of our leaders and citizens of this world could truly understand the role of God in our lives -- if only all of our leaders, communities and neighbors would be free to speak with such conviction and awe toward our heavenly father -- this world, or at least this country, would be a much better place to live.
Before we get caught up in the commercial commotion of next month, let us take time to offer our thanks to God for all of his blessings.
We are blessed to live in a land of freedom. We are blessed to be able to worship as we believe. We are blessed that we have a say in how and by whom we are governed. We are blessed to know that our children have the opportunity to be educated. We are blessed that we live in harmony with our neighbors, regardless of race, color and creed. We are blessed to have more than we might ever need.
Blessings are both large and small, but remember all come from God. May the God of our fathers continue to pour out his blessings upon us, unworthy though we be.
I am thankful to God that he has blessed me to serve as pastor of St. Mark Orthodox Church. May God bless you as richly as he has me.
XThe Rev. Daniel Rohan is the pastor of St. Mark Orthodox Church in Liberty.